£  ^*— 

Cx>  ^ 


EULOGIES. 


JOHN  B.  RICE, 

OF  ILLINOIS. 


ALVAH    CROCKER, 

OF  MASSACHUSETTS. 


SAMUEL  F.  HERSEY, 

OF  MAINE. 


SAMUEL  HOOPER, 

OF  MASSACHUSETTS. 


MEMORIAL  ADDRESSES 


LIFE  AND  CHAF\ACTEF^ 


OF 


JOHN  B.  RICE, 

(  A  REPRESENTATIVE  FROM  ILLINOIS,) 


DELIVERED   IN  THE 


FEBRUARY   20,    1875. 


PUBLISHED  BY  ORDER  OF  CONGRESS. 


TMDRTY-THIRD  PONGRESS,  ^SECOND  CESSION. 
1875. 


ADDRESSES 


ON  THE 


DEATH  OF  JOHN  B.  RICE, 


PROCEEDINGS  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES. 


ADDRESS    OF 


JVARD,    OF    ILLINOIS. 


Mr.  SPEAKER  :  I  arise  to  pay  a  last  tribute  of  respect  to  the  mem- 
ory of  my  late  colleague,  Hon.  JOHN  B.  RICE.  He  died  at  the  house 
of  his  daughter,  in  Norfolk,  Va.,  on  the  i7th  day  of  December,  1874. 
He  left  at  the  close  of  the  last  session  with  his  health  somewhat 
impaired.  During  the  recess  of  Congress  he  sought  rest  at  resorts, 
and  at  times  he  improved  so  that  he  and  his  friends  hoped  and 
believed  he  would  soon  be  fully  restored.  But  this  was  not  to  be  so, 
and  he  did  not  take  his  seat  at  the  commencement  of  the  present 
session,  and  gradually  failing,  died  as  I  have  stated. 

But  recently  he  whom  we  now  mourn  was  among  us  in  robust 
health,  giving  promise  of  many  years  of  usefulness.  His  great  heart 
has  ceased  to  beat,  and  he  sleeps  the  sleep  that  knows  no  waking. 

We  stand  above  his  honored  grave  and  recall  the  graces  and 
grand  qualities  of  his  life. 

A  good  man  has  gone  to  rest  and  the  world  is  poorer  for  his  loss, 
though  richer  and  better  because  he  once  lived. 

To  those  who  knew  him  as  he  was  known  here,  no  word  of  mine 


ACC. 


ADDRESS   OF    MR.  WARD    ON   THE 


can  add  anything  to  the  incense  which  envelops  his  memory  or 
increase  the  respect  which  in  life  his  high  character  challenged  from 
all  who  came  in  contact  with  him. 

Without  pretension,  he  was  industrious,  earnest,  and  able ;  with- 
out obstinacy,  he  was  firm ;  without  self-righteousness,  he  was  scru- 
pulously honest  and  conscientious  in  all  things;  faithful  to  his  friends, 
yet  just  to  his  opponents ;  true  to  his  convictions,  yet  ever  ready  to 
receive  suggestions  and  advice.  Scorning  deceit,  he  diligently  sought 
for  truth ;  fearless  in  action  and  in  the  expression  of  his  own  opinions, 
yet  attentive  and  respectful  to  those  with  whom  he  differed;  public- 
spirited  as  a  citizen,  charitable  to  the  needy,  sympathetic  with  the 
suffering.  A  gentle,  loving,  and  indulgent  father,  genial  as  an  asso- 
ciate, he  was  a  man  to  be  honored  and  loved  as  he  was  in  life,  and 
sincerely  mourned  as  he  is  in  death. 

His  early  life  was  not  spent  under  the  most  auspicious  circum- 
stances, and  his  eminence  in  his  profession,  in  the  social  world,  and 
in  politics  was  achieved  by  his  own  strong  will  and  sturdy  efforts. 

JOHN  BLAKE  RICE  was  born  in  the  village  of  Easton,  Talbot 
County,  Md.,  in  1809.  His  father  was  a  shoemaker,  and  he 
learned  that  trade.  It  is  not  known  how  long  he  worked  at  this 
humble  calling,  nor  is  it  certain  that  he  might  not  have  continued  at 
it  many  years  longer  and  the  whole  current  of  his  life  have  run  in  a 
different  channel  but  for  an  accidental  circumstance  something  in 
this  wise :  The  manager  of  a  Baltimore  theater,  while  strolling  along 
one  of  the  streets  of  the  Maryland  metropolis  one  day,  overheard  a 
rich  musical  voice  trolling  out  a  song  inside  a  shop.  He  stopped  and 
listened  for  a  moment  and  then  passed  on,  but  the  voice  impressed 
him  as  unusually  fine,  and  he  made  it  convenient  soon  after  to  drop 
in  at  that  shop  and  find  out  the  possessor  of  the  fine  baritone. 
After  a  brief  negotiation,  the  young  mechanic  was  engaged  as  a 
chorister  in  Clemens's  Theater,  and  it  was  there  the  stage  life  of 
JOHN  B.  RICE  began.  This  was  in  1836.  The  following  year  found 


LIFE   AND   CHARACTER   OF   JOHN    B.    RICE. 


7 


him  a  member  of  the  company  of  the  Walnut  Street  Theater,  Phila- 
delphia, where  he  was  engaged  for  "  singing  parts,"  and  occasionally 
was  on  for  a  song  between  acts.  While  in  Philadelphia  he  married 
Miss  Mary  Ann  Warren,  daughter  of  the  old  manager  and  actor, 
William  Warren,  long  since  deceased.  Miss  Warren  was  then  play- 
ing soubrette  parts  at  the  Walnut  Street  Theater.  Mr.  RICE  subse- 
quently went  to  Albany,  N.  Y.,  where  he  opened  the  National 
Amphitheater.  That  undertaking,  however,  proved  a  failure,  and  he 
became  associated  with  the  proprietor  of  the  Albany  Museum.  He 
remained  there  four  or  five  years  as  manager,  and  thence  went  to 
Buffalo,  where  he  joined  the  company  of  the  Eagle  Street  Theater. 
He  became  manager.  It  was  at  the  Eagle  Street  Theater  in  Buffalo, 
and  under  Mr.  RICE'S  management,  that  Dan  Marble  made  his  first 
great  hit  as  a  comedian ;  and  it  was  also  here  that  Charlotte  Cush- 
man,  then  a  young  lady  of  twenty-one  or  twenty-two,  played  one  of 
her  very  first  star  engagements.  The  Eagle-street  enterprise  suc- 
ceeded but  moderately  in  a  financial  way,  and  the  manager  con- 
cluded to  give  it  up  and  go  west. 

Early  in  1847  he  went  to  Milwaukee  and  there  managed  a  theater 
for  a  time.  He  ascertained  that  a  canal  convention — that  was  an 
age  of  canals — was  to  be  held  at  Chicago  in  July  of  that  year,  1847. 
It  occurred  to  Manager  RICE  to  seize  the  occasion  and  turn  it  to 
account,  and  with  such  capital  and  credit  as  he  could  command  he 
went  to  Chicago  and  put  up  a  wooden  theater  on  Randolph  street 
between  Dearborn  and  State  streets.  He  had  calculated  rightly;  the 
canal  convention  brought  a  large  number  of  strangers  to  the  city, 
and  the  theater  made  money  rapidly  until  it  burned  down. 

The  first  "star"  introduced  to  the  Chicago  public  under  his  man- 
agement was  Edwin  Forrest,  who  appeared  as  Jack  Cade,  June  15, 
1847. 

Two  months  after  the  destruction  of  the  wooden  theater  on  Ran- 
dolph street,  Mr.  RICE  purchased  a  lot  on  Dearborn  street,  the 


ADDRESS    OF    MR.  WARD    ON   THE 


present  site  of  Rice's  Block,  and  in  the  month  following  (September 
1 6)  the  foundation  for  a  new  theater  was  laid.  It  was  opened  Feb- 
ruary 3,  1851.  This  theater  was  prosperous,  and  in  the  subsequent 
years  "  stars  "  of  the  first  magnitude  played  within  its  walls.  Char- 
lotte Cushman  was  the  most  prominent. 

In  February,  1857,  Mr.  RICE,  having  accumulated  considerable 
wealth,  decided  to  retire  from  the  business.  His  management  prac- 
tically ended  November  27,  1857,  when  the  season  closed.  He 
determined  to  utilize  his  property  by  turning  it  into  business  places. 
This  was  done,  and  was  occupied  as  stores  and  offices  until  1871, 
when  it  was  destroyed  in  the  great  fire.  A  substantial  structure  was 
erected  on  the  site  the  following  year,  and  is  known  as  "Rice's 
Block,"  a  monument  of  his  enterprise  and  faith  in  the  future  of  his 
loved  city. 

After  abandoning  the  theater  Mr.  RICE  devoted  himself  to  the 
improvement  of  his  real  estate,  of  which  he  had  acquired  consider- 
able. During  all  the  time  he  managed  a  stage  there  was  never 
allowed  anything  which  would  tinge  the  cheek  of  the  most  refined 
with  a  blush. 

Although  a  prominent  and  active  citizen  almost  from  the  day  of 
his  arrival  in  Chicago,  and  a  warm  republican  from  the  day  of  the 
organization  of  that  party,  Mr.  RICE  took  no  great  part  in  political 
life  until  1865,  when  he  was  nominated  as  the  candidate  of  the 
"  Union  party"  for  mayor,  and  elected  by  a  large  majority.  In  1867 
he  was  renominated  by  acclamation,  and  again  elected  by  a  large 
majority.  When  his  term  of  office  expired  in  the  fall  of  1869,  he 
refused  to  be  a  candidate  for  re-election.  His  two  administrations 
were  singularly  fortunate.  There  were  no  jobs  in  the  council  and  no 
complaints  of  indifference  on  the  part  of  the  mayor.  As  presiding 
officer  of  the  council  he  was  in  all  respects  the  best  that  body  has 
ever  had.  He  took  an  active  part  in  every  detail  of  the  city  affairs, 
and  was  thoroughly  conversant  with  all  its  necessities. 


LIFE   AND   CHARACTER   OF  JOHN   B.    RICE.  9 

From  1869  to  1872  he  took  no  active  part  in  politics;  but  in  the 
fall  of  the  latter  year,  when  the  republicans  of  the  new  first  congres- 
sional district  wanted  a  candidate,  he  was  unanimously  selected  as 
the  representative  of  his  party.  He  was  chosen  by  an  immense 
majority,  swollen  by  his  own  personal  strength,  and  went  to  Washing- 
ton to  discharge  his  new  duties,  bearing  with  him  the  same  conscien- 
tious determination  to  fulfill  the  high  functions  of  his  office  that  he 
had  displayed  in  other  and  less  important  positions.  His  record  in 
Congress  is  well  known.  A  new  member,  busied  in  learning  details, 
he  had  few  opportunities  of  displaying  the  real  ability  which  was  in 
him;  but  when  he  spoke  and  acted  it  was  always  wisely  and  well. 
By  his  associates  he  was  loved  and  respected. 

By  his  death,  which  occurred  in  almost  the  prime  of  his  life,  the 
first  congressional  district  has  lost  its  first  Representative,  the  city 
and  county  one  of  its  best  citizens,  and  his  family  a  kind  and  affec- 
tionate father. 

Mr.  RICE'S  family  consisted  of  one  son  and  five  daughters.  His 
son  enlisted  early  in  the  war,  and  was  killed  at  Chickamauga,  Tenn., 
September  19,  1863,  while  in  command  of  Company  A  of  the  Eighty- 
ninth  Illinois  Volunteers.  His  daughters  all  are  living ;  and  they, 
and  his  wife,  who  also  survives  him,  mourn  him  as  only  such  can 
mourn  for  such  a  husband  and  father. 

In  the  city  where  he  lived,  and  over  which  he  had  so  long,  so 
acceptably,  and  so  justly  ruled,  and  where  he  was  so  well  and  widely 
known,  he  was  most  appreciated  and  loved.  The  announcement  of 
his  death  carried  sorrow  to  every  household  there;  few  men  ever 
had  or  ever  will  win  as  he  had  won  the  hearts  of  all — the  high  and 
low,  the  rich  and  poor  alike  of  that  city.  And  we  shall  be  fortunate 
indeed  if,  when  our  work  is  done,  it  has  been  as  good  and  our  lives 
as  pure  as  that  of  him  of  whom  we  take  the  last  good-by  to  -day. 

I  submit  the  following  resolutions : 

Resolved,  That  this  House  has  heard  with  deep  regret  of  the  death 


2R 


ADDRESS    OF    MR.  CORWIN    ON   THE 


of  Hon.  JOHN  B.  RICE,  a  member  of  this  House  from  the  State  of 
Illinois. 

Resolved,  That,  as  a  testimony  of  respect  to  his  memory  the  officers 
and  members  of  this  House  will  wear  the  usual  badge  of  mourning 
for  the  space  of  thirty  days. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  transmitted  by  the 
Clerk  to  the  family  of  the  deceased. 


ADDRESS    OF    yVLR.    J3ORWIN,    OF    ILLINOIS. 

Mr.  SPEAKER:  After  listening  to  the  eloquent  remarks  of  my  col- 
league [Mr.  WARD]  I  do  not  rise  to  pronounce  a  formal  eulogy  upon 
the  late  JOHN  B.  RICE,  but  simply  to  add  my  tribute  of  respect  to 
the  memory  of  one  who  was  my  esteemed  friend. 

Although  I  had  on  one  or  two  occasions  prior  to  the  assembling 
of  this  Congress  met  Hon.  JOHN  B.  RICE,  my  acquaintance  with 
him  only  commenced  when  we  met  in  this  Hall  in  December,  1873. 
In  the  selection  of  seats  at  the  commencement  of  this  Congress  it  so 
happened  that  we  were  placed  at  adjoining  desks,  and  continued  to 
occupy  contiguous  seats  during  the  long,  protracted  session  of  seven 
months.  Sitting  side  by  side  and  representing  districts  almost 
adjoining  in  the  same  State  very  naturally  led  to  frequent  conversa- 
tions and  an  interchange  of  opinions  upon  the  various  questions  that 
came  before  the  House.  As  our  acquaintance  improved  this  inter- 
change of  thought  and  opinion  became  more  and  more  frank  and 
unreserved  until,  long  before  the  close  of  the  session,  our  conversa- 
tions were  characterized  by  the  fullest  confidence  and  all  the  freedom 
of  warm  friendship.  It  was  in  this  unreserved  intercourse,  in  the 
expression  of  his  matured  opinions  as  well  as  in  his  impromptu  sug- 
gestions, I  had  the  amplest  opportunities  to  discover  the  more 
striking  characteristics  of  the  deceased,  and  learned  to  respect  his 
many  noble  qualities  both  of  mind  and  heart. 


LIFE   AND   CHARACTER  OF  JOHN   B.    RICE.  II 

As  we  have  been  informed  by  the  gentleman  who  preceded  me, 
Mr.  RICE,  with  but  limited  advantages  for  the  acquisition  of  an  edu- 
cation and  contending  with  the  embarrassments  of  poverty,  com- 
menced the  stern  battle  of  life,  but  with  his  vigorous  intellect,  his 
strong  will,  his  unswerving  honesty  and  integrity  and  his  generous 
heart,  he  fought  the  battle  bravely  and  successfully.  And  while  he 
secured  a  competency  as  to  fortune,  he  also  secured  that  which  was 
of  far  more  value,  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  all  with  whom  he 
was  brought  in  contact;  and  on  many  occasions  he  received  the 
strongest  evidence  of  the  high  estimation  in  which  he  was  held  by 
his  fellow-citizens,  by  being  intrusted  by  their  suffrages  with  high 
and  important  public  duties. 

As  a  man,  Mr.  RICE  was  distinguished  for  a  strong,  comprehen- 
sive, and  vigorous  intellect,  quickened  and  trained  by  a  long  and 
active  participation  in  the  stirring  scenes  of  active  business,  in  which 
he  acquired  a  large  fund  of  practical  and  varied  information.  In 
manners  he  was  affable,  social,  courteous,  and  dignified;  in  conver- 
sation, entertaining  and  instructive;  and  in  all  the  relations  of  life, 
generous  and  magnanimous. 

As  a  Representative  in  this  Hall,  where  you  all  knew  him,  I  need 
say  but  little  of  my  late  colleague.  In  the  discharge  of  his  public 
duties,  the  first  and  paramount  question  with  him  was,  what  is  right  ? 
and  when  he  had  settled  that  question,  he  firmly  adhered  to  his  con- 
victions, permitting  no  considerations  of  policy  or  expediency  to 
swerve  him  from  the  right.  He  was  unremitting  in  his  attention  to 
the  business  and  wants  of  his  constituents,  prompt  in  his  attendance 
upon  and  indefatigable  in  the  performance  of  his  duties  in  commit- 
tee, regular  and  constant  in  his  attendance  upon  the  sessions  of  the 
House,  and  ever  devoted  himself  industriously  and  conscientiously 
to  the  discharge  of  his  whole  duty  to  his  constituents  and  to  the 
country.  He  did  discharge  his  duties  nobly,  faithfully,  and  well, 
and  filled  to  the  full  the  Jeffersonian  standard  of  qualifications  for 


12  ADDRESS   OF   MR.    FORT   ON   THE 

public  service.  He  was  immovably  honest,  he  was  thoroughly  capa- 
ble, and  he  was  diligently  faithful.  In  a  word,  I  repeat,  Mr.  Speaker, 
what  I  have  said,  that  in  his  private  as  well  as  in  his  public  life  he 
was  eminently  distinguished  for  his  immovable,  unyielding,  unflinch- 
ing honesty  and  integrity.  He  earned  and  was  justly  entitled  to 
that  highest  reward  of  the  faithful  public  officer,  "  Well  done,  good 
and  faithful  servant."  "  Peace  to  his  ashes." 


ADDRESS  OF    MR.  FORT,  OF  ILLINOIS. 

Mr.  SPEAKER  :  It  was  painful  duty  on  a  former  occasion  to  announce 
to  this  House  that  death  had  been  among  the  delegation  from  Illi- 
nois and  had  stricken  down  Hon.  JOHN  B.  RICE,  Representative 
from  the  first  district ;  and  it  is  with  tender  sadness  that  I  break 
silence  here  to-day  to  record  my  humble  tribute  of  respect  to  the 
memory  of  my  departed  colleague. 

I  had  known  him  before,  but  had  formed  no  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  him  until  our  service  began  here  together  at  the  opening 
of  this  Congress.  Our  acquaintance  soon  became  very  agreeable  to 
me.  I  soon  discovered  in  him  noble  qualities  and  boundless  gener- 
osity ;  I  soon  found  that  he  was  not  only  approachable  but  genial. 
It  seemed  to  me  that  his  manner  and  his  bearing  were  not  merely 
acquired,  but  that  they  sprang  from  native  politeness  and  were 
founded  upon  broad  benevolence  and  good-will  toward  all  mankind. 
About  him  I  never  discovered  anything  low  or  vulgar ;  but  to  me 
his  conversation  always  appeared  elevating  and  his  purposes  honor- 
able. To  him  I  was  indebted  for  information  to  me  valuable,  and 
which  I  still  cherish  with  his  memory. 

The  influence  of  his  society  was  refining,  and  his  companionship 
profitable.  He  desired  that  all  mankind  should  be  free  and  happy. 
He  would  always  rather  please  than  affront.  Nature  as  well  as  cul- 


LIFE  AND   CHARACTER   OF  JOHN   B.    RICE.  13 

ture  had  endowed  and  formed  and  fitted  him  to  entertain  his  fellows. 
His  service  here  was  not  all  his  public  life.  With  other  theaters  he 
was  more  familiar,  where  he  merited  and  received  the  popular  favor. 
He  was  a  loved  and  cherished  companion,  and  a  dear  and  indul- 
gent father.  He  blessed  his  home  and  his  fireside.  The  blow  that 
removed  him  thence  crushed  and  stunned  the  family  circle. 

When  first  we  met  here  he  seemed  the  most  robust  of  all  the  dele- 
gation from  our  State.  His  sturdy  and  rugged  form  appeared  able 
to  wrestle  with  the  labors  and  exposures  of  life  for  many  years  to 
come,  and  little  did  we  think  that  he  would  be  the  first  of  us  from 
Illinois  to  fall. 

In  his  service  here  he  worked  hard  and  incessantly,  and  it  is  more 
than  probable  that  his  close  application  to  his  public  duties  during 
the  long  session,  and  his  deep  anxiety  that  all  matters  with  which 
his  country  was  concerned  should  go  well,  so  wore  upon  him  and 
sapped  away  his  strength  as  to  cause  his  premature  end. 

He  loved  his  country  more  than  he  loved  himself.  He  was  true  to 
the  party  with  which  he  acted.  All  his  political  action  was  governed 
by  principle,  born  of  sincere  conviction  of  what  to  him  seemed  right. 
For  his  political  adversary  he  had  no  words  of  abuse.  To  his  oppo- 
nents he  accorded  the  same  freedom  of  opinion  he  claimed  for  him- 
self, and  to  them  he  was  always  temperate  and  respectful.  Like  his 
great  political  leader,  of  whom  he  was  a  devoted  follower,  he  had 
"  charity  for  all  and  malice  toward  none." 

But,  Mr.  Speaker,  it  is  with  no  vain  hope  that  I  could  fitly  pro- 
nounce his  eulogy  that  I  do  speak.  I  can  at  best  but  recognize  the 
solemnity  of  the  hour. 

Death  has  been  busy  with  us  here  on  this  floor.  To  his  dread  call 
no  dilatory  motions  avail.  There  is  no  postponement  to  another  day. 
The  hammer  falls  and  the  victim  is  down  forever.  One  after  another 
our  fellows  fall  around  us  and  we  inquire  one  of  another,  who  will  be 
the  next  ?  But  this  no  one  can  tell.  One  by  one  our  comrades  are 


14  ADDRESS   OF   MR.    FORT   ON   THE 

called ;  and  they  depart  at  once  for  that  other  country,  and  we  seem 
to  hear  their  spirits  say,  "  Be  ye  also  ready." 

It  is  fitting,  Mr.  Speaker,  that  we  should  thus  pause  and  hush  the 
hum  of  our  busy  sessions  and  recognize  the  presence  of  death,  that 
stalks  unseen  among  us  and  treads  unheard  upon  this  floor.  Unbid- 
den and  unwelcome  have  been  its  visits. 

We  shall  never  see  the  portly,  manly  form  of  my  colleague  stride 
up  and  down  these  aisles  again  ;  we  shall  hear  the  silvery  tones  of 
his  commanding  voice  no  more.  When  he  fell  some  of  us  were 
appointed  to  attend  his  remains  to  the  tomb.  We  followed  them  to 
his  home  in  Chicago,  of  which  city  he  had  long  been  a  resident  and 
had  been  its  chief  magistrate.  There  the  citizens  both  prominent  and 
humble,  and  there  his  friends  and  neighbors  gathered  sorrowfully 
around  his  bier  to  pay  their  last  tribute — there  to  gaze  for  the  last 
time  upon  that  form  once  so  full  of  life  and  action ;  but  it  was  cold 
and  motionless.  His  once  familiar  voice,  which  had  so  often  swayed 
and  moved  them  to  applause,  was  silenced  forever;  his  eye  that  had 
so  often  beamed  upon  them  was  rayless  and  closed.  And  as  they 
gazed  there  started  many  a  tear  from  eyes  unused  to  weep.  Sadly 
we  bore  his  remains  to  the  grave  in  Rose  Hill  Cemetery,  near  his 
resident  city,  and  silently  and  softly  we  laid  them  down  to  sleep 
until  the  morning  of  the  resurrection,  and  peace  be  to  his  ashes  was 
our  prayer. 

Our  colleague  has  gone,  gone  on  to  that  other  city  over  on  that 
beautiful  shore. 

Hail,  brother ;  hail  and  farewell. 

The  resolutions  offered  by  Mr.  WARD,  of  Illinois,  were  then  adopted 
unanimously. 


LIFE   AND'   CHARACTER   OF  JOHN   B.    RICE.  15 


PROCEEDINGS     IN     THE     SENATE. 


ADDRESS  OF   M.F^.   DGLESBY,  OF  ILLINOIS. 

I  ask  for  the  reading  of  the  House  resolutions  announcing  the 
death  of  Hon.  JOHN  B.  RICE,  which  I  believe  are  on  the  table, 
having  been  received  from  the  House  a  few  minutes  ago. 

The  Secretary  read  as  follows : 

IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES, 

February  20,  1875. 

Resolved,  That  this  House  has  heard  with  deep  regret  of  the  death 
of  Hon.  JOHN  B.  RICE,  late  a  member  of  this  House  from  the  State 
of  Illinois. 

Resolved,  That  as  a  testimony  of  respect  to  his  memory  the  officers 
and  members  of  this  House  will  wear  the  usual  badge  of  mourning 
for  the  space  of  thirty  days. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  transmitted  by  the 
Clerk  to  the  family  of  the  deceased. 

Mr.  PRESIDENT  :  The  solemn  duty  of  announcing  in  this  body  the 
death  of  our  honorable  colleague  of  the  other  House  would  have 
fallen  naturally  and  more  appropriately  upon  my  colleague,  the 
senior  Senator  from  Illinois.  A  short  time  ago,  however,  he  advised 
me  that  he  would  have  to  forego  his  purpose  of  addressing  the  Sen- 
ate upon  this  occasion  in  consequence  of  severe  and  painful  sickness. 
I  regret  that  my  colleague  is  deprived  of  the  sad  privilege  of  per- 
forming the  solemn  duty  of  addressing  the  Senate  at  this  hour.  He 
was  more  familiarly  acquainted  with  the  dead  member.  I,  however, 
knew  him  long  enough  and  well  enough  to  honor  and  love  him. 
There  was  something  more  in  his  death  than  a  loss  to  his  fam- 


l6  ADDRESS   OF   MR.   OGLESBY   ON  THE 

ily.  There  was  a  loss  in  some  sense  to  the  whole  country.  He  had 
acted  upon  two  stages  in  life — upon  that  common  stage  to  which  we 
were  all  dedicated  and  upon  that  other  one  which  has  done  so  much 
to  enlighten  and  elevate  mankind.  He  was  fond  of  the  drama.  He 
had  studied  all  the  great  dramatists  of  ancient  and  modern  times. 
He  was  fond  of  works  of  fiction,  and  loved  to  study  the  human 
character  as  portrayed  by  the  best  authors  who  had  written  upon  it. 

He  was  born  in  the  midst  of  slavery,  at  some  little  village  in  the 
State  of  Maryland,  in  1809,  and  learned  the  trade  of  his  father,  that 
of  a  shoemaker.  For  years,  I  think,  he  followed  this  obscure  but 
honorable  calling.  A  strange  circumstance  changed  his  career. 
Possessed  of  an  unusually  sweet  voice,  that  gave  expression  to  the  ten- 
der feelings  of  a  sweet  soul,  he  arrested  the  common  ear  as  day  by 
day  he  was  toiling  at  his  quiet  seat.  Upon  one  such  occasion  an  artist 
in  music,  passing  by  the  door  of  his  shop,  stopped  to  listen.  He  at 
once  called  upon  the  stranger,  and  from  that  hour  Mr.  RICE'S  occu- 
pation in  life  was  changed.  For  the  future  he  was  dedicated  to  the 
theater.  He  went  through  the  whole  course  of  theatrical  education, 
and  became  a  manager  of  large  establishments  successively  in  Phila- 
delphia, in  Buffalo,  in  Milwaukee,  and  finally  in  Chicago.  He  was  the 
companion  of  such  men  as  Forrest,  the  elder  Booth,  and  that  incom- 
parably superior  American  genius,  Charlotte  Cushman.  Some  of 
her  earliest  performances  were  star  engagements  under  the  manage- 
ment of  Mr.  JOHN  B.  RICE  in  Buffalo  and  in  Chicago. 

I  will  not  stop  to  follow  his  career  in  detail.  In  many  respects  it 
is  the  career  of  all  men.  He  had  his  troubles,  his  misfortunes,  his 
delays,  in  marching  forward  through  the  race  of  life;  but  it  is  enough 
to  say  that  he  became  distinguished  in  his  profession.  He  was  abso- 
lutely honored  and  more  than  respected;  he  was  loved  by  all  admir- 
ers of  that  art.  Finally  he  abandoned  it  in  1857  and  retired,  as  he 
supposed,  to  private  life,  upon  an  entire  competency. 

Mr.  RICE  had  one  son  and  five  daughters.     The  only  son  he  had 


LIFE   AND    CHARACTER   OF   JOHN    B.    RICE.  17 

he  gave  to  his  country;  a  brilliant  and  promising  young  man,  the 
pride  of  a  fond  mother  and  proud  father.  Under  the  solicitation 
and  encouragement  of  that  father,  the  son  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the 
late  war,  soon  became  a  captain,  and  on  the  igth  day  of  September, 
1863,  fell  in  leading  his  company  forward  into  the  battle  of  Chicka- 
mauga. 

Mr.  RICE  was  an  intense  patriot.  Born,  it  is  true,  in  Maryland, 
and  in  his  youth  habituated  to  the  southern  cast  and  shade  of  poli- 
itics,  he  had,  strange  as  it  may  seem  from  his  peculiar  associations, 
separated  a  long  way  from  the  masses  of  the  people,  from  the  com- 
mon thoughts  of  that  locality,  and  imbibed  the  spirit  of  anti-slavery. 
He  became  an  active  worker  in  the  republican  party  at  its  very 
origin,  and  though  mingling  most  of  the  time  with  associates  not  of 
his  mode  of  thinking  politically,  he  yet  adhered  steadfastly  to  his 
political  faith  up  to  the  very  hour  of  his  death. 

In  1865  the  people  of  Chicago,  who  had  great  respect  for  him, 
insisted  upon  his  running  for  mayor  of  that  city.  He  consented,  and 
was  elected  by  a  very  large  majority  as  the  union  republican  candi- 
date, and  served  two  years.  The  people  of  that  city  insisted  that  he 
should  again  serve  them  in  that  capacity.  He  consented,  and  the  sec- 
ond time  was  elected  over  a  very  strong  opponent  by  a  decided  majority. 
At  the  end  of  his  second  term,  which  was  again  two  years,  he  was 
for  the  third  time  urged  by  the  people  of  that  city  to  run  once  more 
for  the  office  of  mayor ;  but  he  declined  and  insisted  upon  retiring  to 
private  life.  He  did  substantially  retire  to  private  life;  but  in  1872 
the  republican  party  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  in  the  district  where  my 
colleague  resides,  insisted  upon  honoring  him  with  their  nomination 
for  Congress.  He  had  not  sought  it;  he  did  not  desire  it.  He  had 
but  little  taste  for  politics ;  his  tastes  were  almost  exclusively  literary. 
He  consented,  and  over  a  very  formidable  antagonist  was  elected  by  an 
overwhelming  majority.  He  entered  the  other  House  of  Congress  a 
stranger  to  most  of  the  people  of  his  own  State,  intimately  acquainted 


3  E 


i8 


ADDRESS  OF  MR.  OGLESBY  ON  THE 


with  but  very  few  of  the  members;  a  modest  and  retiring  man,  with 
great  personal  courage,  great  purity  of  purpose,  great  kindness  of 
heart,  great  fidelity  to  what  he  believed  to  be  right.  He  took  his 
stand  upon  the  republican  side,  and  said : 

I  will  support  my  party  and  its  principles  when  it  and  its  princi- 
ples are  right;  but  if  I  shall  ever  come  conscientiously  to  doubt  that 
its  policies  are  correct,  I  will  not  follow  them.  I  come  to  the  halls 
of  legislation  to  represent  my  people,  and  my  chiefest  object  and  my 
great  purpose  shall  be  that  right  and  only  right  shall  prevail  in 
legislation. 

He  took  no  active  or  leading  part.  He  was  very  industrious  and 
and  very  faithful  to  his  constituents,  discharged  all  the  ordinary 
duties  that  fall  upon  members  of  either  House  of  Congress  cheerfully 
and  faithfully;  occasionally  spoke,  and  when  he  did  speak  in  that 
House  was  listened  to.  He  was  a  gentleman  of  fine  presence,  of 
captivating  and  alluring  voice,  fine  taste  in  the  use  of  language,  and 
eloquent  in  all  respects  as  a  public  speaker. 

He  was  no  scholar,  Mr.  President,  in  the  proper  and  high  sense  of 
that  term.  He  was  a  scholar  in  perhaps  the  too  common  American 
sense.  His  education  was  based  upon  experience ;  it  was  the  result 
of  a  long  line  of  observation,  purely  and  almost  entirely  practical. 
He  knew  nothing  of  the  greater  and  deeper  sciences;  he  had  not 
gone  down  to  the  very  bottom  of  education;  he  had  not  fathomed 
the  deepest  and  purest  sources  of  thought.  He  was  not,  in  that 
sense,  either  a  philosopher  or  a  student;  but  he  was  a  man  of  emi- 
nent practical  learning,  practical  wisdom,  and  had  happily  blended  in 
him  those  qualities  that  arrested  the  attention  of  the  learned  and  the 
rich,  the  lowly  and  the  poor.  All  classes  met  upon  his  plateau.  He  was 
happily  adapted  by  nature  to  all  the  various  phases  and  changes  of 
society — one  of  those  few  men  who  are  ever  at  home  with  the  high- 
est and  purest,  ever  at  home  with  the  lowest  and  poorest.  Such  a 
character,  Mr.  President,  is  an  enviable  one. 


LIFE    AND    CHARACTER   OF   JOHN    B.    RICE.  19 

Mr.  RICE  did  not  live  long  enough  to  leave  a  reputation  behind 
him  as  a  representative  of  the  people.  He  began  to  fail  in  health, 
and  in  the  hope  of  being  restored  traveled  largely  last  summer. 
Finally  he  went  to  Norfolk,  Virginia,  and,  although  past  the  merid- 
ian of  life,  was  apparently  in  the  midst  of  his  usefulness ;  still  vigor- 
ous, and,  but  for  the  sudden  attack  which  seized  him,  had  the  prom- 
ise of  many  years.  He  fell,  however,  and  has  gone  down  to  the 
earth.  He  has  passed  away  from  life.  But  there  was  enough  in 
that  life  to  arrest  deliberation  in  this  great  body,  to  arrest  delibera- 
tion in  that  other  great  body  at  the  other  end  of  the  Capitol.  A 
nation  stops  for  an  hour  to  pass  a  brief,  poor  eulogy  upon  his  char- 
acter. How  many  there  are  who  pass  away  unthought  of,  unre- 
membered,  and  unnoticed!  It  was  his  happy  lot  to  have  earned  the 
love,  the  respect,  and  confidence  of  all  women  and  men  who  knew 
him,  and  to  have  arrested  public  attention  in  the  halls  of  national 
legislation. 

Farewell  to  the  memory  of  JOHN  B.  RICE  !  Farewell  to  all  the 
good  acts  and  graces  of  his  life !  I  join  with  my  associates  here  in 
dropping  a  tear  to  his  worthy  name. 

I  ask,  Mr.  President,  the  adoption  of  the  resolutions  which  I  send 
to  the  desk. 

The  Secretary  read  the  resolutions,  as  follows  : 

Resolved,  That  the  Senate  has  received  with  profound  sensibility 
the  announcement  of  the  death  of  Hon.  JOHN  B.  RICE,  late  a  mem- 
ber of  the  House  of  Representatives  from  the  State  of  Illinois. 

Resolved,  That  the  members  of  the  Senate,  from  a  sincere  desire 
of  showing  every  mark  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  Mr.  RICE,  will 
wear  the  usual  badge  of  mourning  for  the  space  of  thirty  days. 

Resolved,  That  the  sympathies  of  the  members  of  the  Senate  be 
tendered  to  the  family  of  Mr.  RICE  in  their  bereavement,  and  that 
the  Secretary  of  the  Senate  transmit  to  them  a  copy  of  these  resolu- 
tions. 


20  ADDRESS   OF  MR.    LOGAN. 


ADDRESS    OF    JA.R.    Jx>GAN,    OF    JLLINOIS. 

I  rise  merely  to  say  that  I  sincerely  regret  that  the  condition  of 
my  health  is  such  as  to  prevent  me,  as  the  senior  Senator  from  Illi- 
nois, paying  a  proper  tribute  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  my  de- 
ceased'colleague  in  the  other  House.  Mr.  RICE  was  my  friend  and 
neighbor,  and  it  would  have  been  a  source  of  sad  satisfaction  to  me 
to  have  done  him  the  honor  that  his  life  and  character  deserve. 

Mr.  President,  I  second  the  resolutions  offered  by  my  colleague. 

The  resolutions  were  adopted  unanimously. 


MEMORIAL  ADDRESSES 


LIFE 


OF 


ALVAH  CROCKER, 


(  A  REPRESENTATIVE  FROM  MASSACHUSETTS,) 


DELIVERED   IN  THE 


SENATE  AND  WOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES, 


FEBRUARY  20,    1875. 


PUBLISHED  BY  ORDER  OF  CONGRESS. 


j^ORTY-THIRD  poNGRESS,  J3ECOND  CESSION. 


ADDRESSES 


ON   THE 


DEATH  OF  ALVAH  CROCKER. 


PROCEEDINGS  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES. 


ADDRESS    OF    yVlR.    J)AWES,    OF    ^fl.  ASS  AC  HU  SETTS. 

Mr.  SPEAKER  :  I  desire  to  interrupt  the  ordinary  current  of  business 
in  this  House  that  the  attention  of  its  members  may  be  directed  for 
a  few  moments  to  an  event  full  of  admonition,  and  one  which  awaits 
us  all.  It  becomes  my  painful  duty  -to  announce  to  the  House  the 
death  of  one  of  its  members,  Hon.  ALVAH  CROCKER,  a  Representa- 
tive from  the  tenth  congressional  district  of  Massachusetts,  who  died 
at  his  home  in  Fitchburgh,  in  that  State,  after  a  brief  illness,  on  Sat- 
urday, the  26th  day  of  December  last.  He  separated  from  his  col- 
leagues and  associates  here  at  the  commencement  of  the  holiday 
recess  in  unusual  health  and  spirits,  speaking  frequently  of  a  vigor 
and  freedom  from  illness  not  enjoyed  for  many  years.  His  journey 
northward  to  his  home  in  the  rigor  of  December  brought  upon  him 
a  severe  cold  and  afterward  congestion  of  the  lungs,  which  confined 
him  to  his  house  on  Friday  and  terminated  fatally  on  Saturday 
evening.  He  sank  rapidly  in  the  last  few  hours  of  his  illness,  and 
passed  quietly  away  at  eleven  o'clock  in  the  hope  of  a  glorious 
immortality. 

Mr.  CROCKER  was  born  in  Leominster,  in  our  State,  on  the  i4th 


24  ADDRESS   OF   MR.   DAWES   ON   THE 

day  of  October,  1801,  and  had  therefore  at  the  time  of  his  death 
just  entered  the  seventy-fourth  year  of  his  age.  His  parents  were 
poor,  and  without  the  means  of  rendering  him  any  assistance  in 
preparation  for  after  life,  and  hardly  more  than  a  maintenance  from 
his  earliest  years,  and  he  became  a  factory  operative  when  only 
eight  years  of  age.  The  first  and  almost  the  only  fifty  dollars  ex- 
pended on  his  education  was  earned  by  him  in  night-work  in  the 
factory  at  four  cents  an  hour,  and  while  it  lasted  he  was  a  pupil  at 
Groton  Academy.  Whatever  he  could  earn  in  this  way  was  de- 
voted by  him  to  fitting  himself  for  a  broad  and  practical  usefulness 
in  after  life.  In  fact,  almost  his  entire  education  was  acquired  in 
that  broader  field  of  practical  life  where  necessity  is  the  teacher  and 
experience  the  guide. 

In  his  early  manhood  he  entered  as  a  partner  with  others  into  a 
responsible  business  connection  as  a  manufacturer  of  paper,  in 
which  pursuit  he  continued  with  marked  and  unbroken  success  till 
his  death.  Though  largely  and  devotedly  engaged  in  this  the  spe- 
cial calling  of  his  life,  he  found  time  to  undertake  and  carry  out  to 
successful  results  other  enterprises,  some  of  them  of  vast  public  con- 
cern, and  all  of  them  of  great  usefulness  and  influence  in  promoting 
the  healthy  and  permanent  growth  of  the  community  in  which  he 
lived,  bringing  to  himself  at  the  same  time  large  returns  and  ulti- 
mately great  wealth. 

Embarking  with  characteristic  zeal  and  energy  in  the  earliest  rail- 
road enterprise  in  Northern  Massachusetts,  if  not  himself  its  pro- 
jector, at  a  time  when  railroads  were  as  yet  an  untested  experiment, 
he  lived  to  see  that  line  traverse  the  entire  State  and  connect  its 
tide-waters  with  the  Hudson  and  the  western  lakes  by  one  of  the 
most  marvelous  works  of  internal  improvements  in  modern  times, 
and  all  pushed  to  completion  by  an  energy  and  forecast  inspired  by 
him  more  than  by  any  other.  Under  the  same  influences  his  own 
town  has  grown  from  an  unimportant  village  of  a  few  hundred  in- 


LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  ALVAH  CROCKER.       2$ 

habitants  to  a  flourishing  and  prosperous  city  of  large  and  increas- 
ing wealth  and  importance  in  the  Commonwealth.  It  to-day 
mourns  the  loss  of  a  citizen  constantly  contributing  by  a  ceaseless 
activity  singularly  well  directed  to  its  improvement  and  prosperity, 
to  the  comfort  and  character  and  growth  of  its  people. 

Nor  were  these  characteristics  of  Mr.  CROCKER'S  life  confined  in 
their  results  to  the  city  of  his  residence,  but  were  felt  in  stimulating 
the  development  of  a  great  variety  of  industrial  interests  and  the 
consequent  increase  of  prosperity  and  wealth  in  other  parts  of  the 
State.  A  beautiful  manufacturing  town  has  sprung,up  within  a  few 
years  on  the  banks  of  the  Connecticut,  increasing  rapidly  in  popula- 
tion and  wealth,  and  destined  soon  to  rank  among  our  cities,  which 
owes  its  very  existence  to  the  indomitable  energy  and  tireless  efforts 
of  Mr.  CROCKER. 

The  implicit  confidence  of  his  fellow-citizens  in  his  spotless  integ- 
rity as  well  as  sound  judgment  and  unusual  forecast,  called  him 
most  frequently  to  positions  of  very  delicate  trust  and  of  great  respon- 
sibility, which  he  held  from  his  earliest  manhood  to  the  day  of  his  death. 
His  decease  has  made  vacant  positions  in  the  board  of  direction 
of  institutions  and  associations  for  purposes  of  business  and  public 
and  private  trusts  as  well  as  for  objects  of  benevolent  and  religious 
work  greater  in  number  and  importance  than  would  be  caused  by 
the  death  of  almost  any  other  citizen  of  the  Commonwealth. 

Mr.  CROCKER  was  three  times  a  member  of  the  house  and  twice  a 
senator  in  the  Massachusetts  Legislature.  On  the  zd  day  of  Janu- 
ary, 1872,  he  was  elected  to  the  Forty-second  Congress  to  fill  a 
vacancy  caused  by  the  resignation  of  Governor  Washburn.  His 
election  took  place  while  he  was  absent  from  the  country  with  Mrs. 
Crocker,  whose  failing  health  had  taken  him  abroad  many  months 
previous  to  the  existence  of  the  vacancy.  He  had  no  knowledge  of 
either  nomination  or  election  till  his  return  after  both  had  occurred. 
Mrs.  Crocker's  protracted  sickness  and  death  detained  him  for  some 


26  ADDRESS   OF   MR.    DAWES   ON  THE 

time  from  his  seat.  He  was  re-elected  to  the  Forty-third  Congress 
by  a  large  majority,  but  declined  a  re-election  to  the  Forty-fourth. 

Mr.  CROCKER  was  in  politics  a  whig,  and  after  that  party  a  repub- 
lican. Bringing  to  the  discharge  of  every  political  duty  growing  out 
of  those  relations  the  same  enthusiastic  zeal  which  characterized  his 
every  undertaking,  he  was  nevertheless  no  partisan,  and  always  fol- 
lowed his  convictions  rather  than  his  party.  He  came  into  Congress 
late  in  life,  and  was  not  permitted  to  remain  long  enough  in  his  work 
here  to  leave  that  personal  and  permanent  impression  upon  the 
administrative  policy  or  legislation  of  the  country  which  experience 
often  brings  to  the  share  of  others.  But  he  was  not  idle  here. 
Indeed,  he  could  not  be  idle  anywhere.  In  the  committee-room,  as 
well  as  upon  the  floor  of  the  House,  and  always  in  consultation,  his 
practical  knowledge  and  wise  counsel  were  invaluable,  while  his 
genial  disposition  and  flow  of  conversation  made  him  a  general 
favorite.  It  was  truthfully  said  of  him  that  "  he  went  directly  at  a 
thing  in  Congress  as  he  would  in  his  own  business  affairs,  and  in  an 
earnest,  homely  way  they  were  little  accustomed  to  witness." 

Mr.  CROCKER  was  a  remarkable  man  in  all  the  variety  of  pursuits 
in  life  into  which  his  tireless  spirit  and  iron  will  led  him  to  embark. 
A  larger  measure  of  success  and  a  more  wide-spread  influence  and 
abiding  impression  were  attendant  upon  his  career  in  life  than  mark 
the  path  of  most  of  his  contemporaries.  The  tendency  of  his  whole 
life-work  was  for  good.  He  was  a  generous  giver,  and  especially 
delighted  in  aiding  young  men  of  limited  means.  The  needy  never 
turned  empty  from  his  door.  No  portion  of  that  vast  concourse  of 
people  who  crowded  the  funeral  procession  testified  their  bereave- 
ment more  sincerely  than  the  humble  and  dependent  who  had  been 
recipients  of  his  bounty.  He  was  a  religious  man,  and  died  in  the 
faith  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  of  which  he  was  an  officer 
at  the  time  of  his  death. 

Mr.  CROCKER  had  been  married  three  times,  and  left  two  children 


LIFE   AND   CHARACTER  OF  ALVAH   CROCKER.  2J 

and  a  widow  stricken  by  this  bereavement,  yet  sustained  by  that 
faith  which  assures  them  that  their  loss  is  his  gain. 

Mr.  Speaker,  the  shafts  are  falling  thick  and  fast  among  us. 
Massachusetts  is  called  upon  by  this  dispensation,  for  the  third  time 
during  this  Congress,  to  mourn  the  loss  of  one  from  the  number  of 
those  she  has  commissioned  for  the  public  service  in  these  Halls. 
And  even  now,  before  these  ceremonies  are  concluded,  a  fourth  is 
added  to  the  list  of  her  dead.  The  funeral  procession  has  but  just 
borne  another  of  her  delegation  from  the  scenes  of  his  labor  here. 
Our  Commonwealth  is  most  sensible  of  how  great  is  that  loss.  She 
bows  her  head  in  submission  and  testifies  her  grief  at  the  tomb  of 
her  faithful  public  servants. 

I  offer  the  following  resolutions : 

Resolved,  That  this  House  has  heard  with  deep  regret  the  death  of 
Hon.  ALVAH  CROCKER,  late  a  member  of  this  House  from  the  State 
of  Massachusetts. 

Resolved,  That  as  a  testimony  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  the 
deceased  the  officers  and  members  of  this  House  will  wear  the 
usual  badge  of  mourning  for  the  space  of  thirty  days. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  transmitted  by  the 
Clerk  to  the  family  of  the  deceased. 


ADDRESS    OF    yVlR.    CUTLER,    OF    ^VlASSACHUSETTS. 

Mr.  SPEAKER:  The  most  gracious  boon  conferred  by  a  merciful 
Providence  upon  any  man  is  that  he  may  not  know  the  hour  or 
manner  of  his  death.  When  it  comes  to  him  in  the  full  vigor  of 
activity,  especially  after  long,  long  years  of  a  well-spent  life,  as  a 
relief  from  all  sorrow  and  care,  with  a  humble  Christian  hope  of  a 
future  and  better  life  to  come,  such  a  departure  calls  neither  for  tears 
nor  mourning  in  his  behalf  whose  life  has  been  so  blessed  by  its  end- 


28  ADDRESS  OF  MR.  BUTLER  ON  THE 

ing.  Yet  it  is  Well  to  pause  amid  the  contests  of  life,  its  -struggles 
and  business,  to  give  thought  to  the  conduct  and  example  of  the 
departed,  to  contemplate  all  that  is  beautiful  and  good  in  his  charac- 
ter, and  to  pay  some  tribute  to  his  virtues,  and  thus  aid  to  keep  green 
his  memory. 

By  the  death  of  ALVAH  CROCKER,  a  member  from  Massachusetts 
in  this  House  of  Representatives,  our  Commonwealth  has  been  called 
a  second  time  to  mourn  for  one  of  her  chosen  men ;  and  while  he 
had  not,  from  long  services  in  the  councils  of  the  nation,  high  attri- 
butes of  eloquence  and  learning,  attained  that  exalted  place  in  the 
affection  and  reverence  of  his  countrymen  that  was  held  by  the  great 
statesman  of  our  State  whose  death  has  within  a  twelvemonth  called 
for  our  deepest  sorrow,  yet  in  another  and  perhaps  no  less  useful 
sphere  Mr.  CROCKER  has  so  well  performed  his  part  in  life,  and  has 
left  for  the  contemplation  and  imitation  of  the  youth  of  the  country 
a  career  no  less  honorable,  and  in  its  results  to  mankind  quite  as 
practical  and  beneficent. 

From  humble  life,  without  the  advantages  of  that  early  training 
and  cultivation  which  the  universities  may  give,  brought  up  by  the 
rugged  hand  of  poverty,  he  early  distinguished  himself  as  a  thorough 
man  of  affairs,  whose  foresight  in  planning,  whose  skill  and  energy 
in  executing  many  most  important  undertakings  for  the  welfare  of 
his  fellow-citizens  and  the  prosperity  of  his  State,  early  gave  him  an 
enviable  reputation  in  a  community  where  all  the  faculties  of  mind 
were  taxed  to  the  utmost  in  the  most  active  and  complicated  duties 
of  life. 

Mr.  CROCKER'S  character  and  success  in  life  were  indeed  the  very 
outgrowth  of  the  industrial  pursuits  of  the  people  of  Massachusetts. 
At  an  almost  infantile  age  an  operative  in  a  manufacturing  establish- 
ment, thence  steadily  rising  step  by  step,  overseer,  superintendent, 
owner,  acquitting  himself  so  well  in  all  that  each  step  was  but  the 
round  of  the  ladder  by  which  he  climbed  from  honorable  penury  to 


LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  ALVAH  CROCKER.       29 

competence  and  the  like  honorable  wealth.  Among  the  very  first  of 
the  far-seeing  men  of  his  State,  with  business  sagacity  that  never 
faltered,  he  foresaw  the  effect  which  the  then  young  system  of  rail- 
roading must  have  upon  the  prosperity  of  his  native  State,  and  allied 
himself  very  early  in  one  of  the  most  considerable  railroad  enter- 
prises by  which  Boston  was  ultimately  to  be  connected  with  the 
western  part  of  New  England,  the  provinces,  the  Canadas,  and  the 
great  lakes.  His  sagacity  and  business  qualities  were  at  once  recog- 
nized by  his  associates  in  the  enterprise,  so  that  he  was  early  made 
president  of  the  Fitchburgh  Railroad,  planned  in  the  beginning  to 
connect  his  native  town  and  the  town  of  his  adoption  with  Boston, 
but  afterward  to  be  extended  so  as  to  become  a  portion  of  the  rail- 
road system  that  connects  the  tide-waters  of  Boston  Harbor  with  the 
great  lakes  and  the  granaries  of  the  West. 

Mr.  CROCKER  early  saw,  almost  as  by  intuition,  what  came  to  others 
only  by  slow  teachings  of  experience,  the  impossibility  of  profitably 
and  effectively  carrying  on  very  extensive  mercantile  traffic  over 
railroads  encumbered  by  curves  and  heavy  gradients,  and  therefore 
nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago  became  the  ardent  advocate  and 
untiring  promoter  of  the  most  splendid  engineering  achievement  of 
the  age,  the  opening  of  a  railroad  track  through  Hoosac  Mountain 
by  a  tunnel  sufficient  for  a  double-track  road  of  quite  five  miles  in 
extent,  of  which  work  the  State  gave  him  charge  as  its  commissioner, 
and  which  he  lived  only  long  enough  to  see  completed. 

While  possessing  qualities  of  the  most  positive  character,  yet  his 
nature  was  so  kindly,  his  disposition  so  courteous,  his  mind  so  fair, 
and  his  conscience  so  just,  that  he  had  fewer  collisions  in  the  many 
and  diverse  kinds  of  business  in  which  he  took  most  active  part  than 
fall  to  the  lot  of  the  most  favored  few.  With  such  attributes,  sus- 
tained by  the  most  sturdy  and  vigorous  physical  health,  which  ena- 
bled him  to  carry  forward  with  the  greatest  vigor  all  that  he  under- 
took, it  was  not  singular  that  he  early  commanded  the  attention  of 


30  ADDRESS  OF   MR.    BUTLER  ON  THE 

his  fellow-citizens  as  one  well  fitted  for  public  service,  and  was  by 
them  chosen  to  represent  their  interests  hi  public  affairs;  so  that 
nearly  forty  years  ago  he  was  elected  the  representative  of  what  is 
now  the  city  of  Fitchburgh  to  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts,  which 
he  filled  during  several  terms,  and  was  afterward  later  in  life  elected 
to  the  senate  of  the  State  for  two  successive  periods;  in  all  which 
service  he  gained  an  enviable  distinction  and  influence,  never  failing 
to  command  the  suffrages  of  his  fellow-citizens  where  he  was  offered 
as  a  candidate  for  their  votes;  so  that  he  was  elected  twice  to  his 
seat  in  this  House  in  the  Forty-second  and  Forty-third  Congresses,  in 
which  last  we  now  turn  aside  from  public  affairs  to  mourn  his  loss  as 
a  fellow-member  but  yesterday  acting  with  us  in  the  business  of  the 
hour. 

An  ardent,  patriotic  friend  of  the  Union,  on  the  breaking  out  of 
the  war  Mr.  CROCKER  took  the  most  active  and  intense  interest  in  all 
measures  for  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion.  Too  far  advanced  in 
years  to  take  part  in  arms,  he  exerted  himself  to  send  forward  troops, 
and  while  the  war  was  waging  he  made  a  voyage  to  Eygland,  and 
spent  very  considerable  time  in  impressing  upon  the  manufacturers 
of  England  the  condition  of  our  country  and  the  necessity  that  there 
should  be  a  community  of  interest  and  thought  and  mutual  fellow- 
ship between  those  classes  in  both  countries  that  represent  the  indus- 
tries of  the  people.  When  the  war  was  over,  not  unmindful  of  those 
who  had  gone  forth  at  his  solicitation  to  battle  for  the  country  and 
laid  down  their  lives  in  its  service  on  the  battle-field,  he  exerted 
himself  with  his  accustomed  power  and  vigor,  contributing  thereto 
largely  of  his  own  means  to  provide  that  the  fallen  heroes  of  his  city 
should  have  one  of  the  most  elaborate  and  costly  of  the  many  mon- 
uments erected  to  the  memory  of  those  who  fell  in  battle  in  that  war, 
and  fortunately  lived  long  enough  to  see  it  completed,  having  made 
the  address  at  its  dedication  but  a  few  months  before  his  decease. 

ALVAH  CROCKER  died  at  the  age  of  upward  of  seventy-three  years, 


LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  ALVAH  CROCKER.      31 

but  was  possessed  of  such  a  strong  and  powerful  frame  and  constitu- 
tion of  body,  that  it  seemed  probable  but  for  the  accidental  contract- 

• 
ing  of  the  disease  from  which  he  died,  he  might  have  seen  many 

more  years  of  useful  service  to  his  country  and  his  kind. 

Such  is  the  faint  outline  of  the  record  of  a  life  not  so  brilliant  in- 
deed as  some  that  flash  their  light  across  the  age  in  which  they  live, 
but  so  useful,  so  practical,  so  devoted  to  everything  that  could  aid, 
prosper,  and  foster  all  the  best  interests  of  the  community  in  which 
he  lived,  that  it  is  more  than  doubted  whether  any  better  model  of  a 
life  well  spent  and  duty  well  done  can  be  held  up  for  the  closest  imi- 
tation of  those  who  may  come  after  him. 

The  resolutions  submitted  by  Mr.  DAWES  were  then  unanimously 
adopted. 


32          ADDRESS  OF  MR.  WASHBURN  ON  THE 


PROCEEDINGS     IN     THE     SENATE. 


ADDRESS    OF    yV\.R.    JVASHBURN,    OF    ^VlASSACHUSETTS. 

I  rise  to  ask  for  the  reading  of  the  resolutions  from  the  House  of 
Representatives  in  regard  to  my  late  colleague,  Hon.  ALVAH 
CROCKER,  which  I  believe  are  on  the  table. 

The  VICE-PRESIDENT.  The  resolutions  will  be  read. 

The  Secretary  read  as  follows : 

IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES, 

February  20,  1875. 

Resolved,  That  this  House  has  heard  with  deep  regret  of  the  death 
of  Hon.  ALVAH  CROCKER,  late  a  member  of  this  House  from  the 
State  of  Massachusetts. 

Resolved,  That  as  a  testimony  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  the 
deceased,  the  officers  and  members  of  this  House  will  wear  the 
usual  badge  of  mourning  for  the  space  of  thirty  days. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  transmitted  by  the 
Clerk  to  the  family  of  the  deceased. 

I  have  presented  the  resolutions  which  have  been  read  with 
feelings  of  peculiar  sadness.  Never  before  has  our  State,  never 
before  has  any  State  since  the  formation  of  the  Government  been 
called  to  mourn  the  loss  of  so  large  a  percentage  of  its  delegation 
during  a  given  Congress.  Four  during  the  term,  three  in  the  past 
year,  nearly  one-third  of  our  delegation  have  fallen  in  the  ranks. 
Death  came  so  sudden  and  unexpected  upon  each  one  that  their 
most  intimate  friends  hardly  realized  that  they  had  withdrawn  from 
their  daily  official  labors.  Surely  the  reaper  has  thrust  his  sickle 
into  our  ranks  with  no  sparing  hand. 


LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  ALVAH  CROCKER.      33 

During  the  last  session  Mr.  CROCKER  being  confined  to  his  room 
for  a  long  time  by  severe  sickness,  none  of  us  would  have  been 
surprised  at  the  news  of  his  death  at  any  moment.  But  soon  after 
his  return  home  in  the  summer  he  began  to  improve  and  recovered 
his  usual  strength  and  vigor,  so  that  when  he  returned  to  his  official 
duties  at  the  commencement  of  the  present  session  he  had  the 
appearance  of  a  strong,  healthy  man.  A  few  days  previous  to  our 
late  recess  he  left  for  home  to  spend  the  holidays  with  the  members 
of  his  family  and  near  relatives  of  his  own  house.  When  he  reached 
home  he  had  a  slight  cold,  but  not  sufficient  to  cause  the  least  alarm. 
He  applied  himself  from  day  to  day  to  the  inspection  of  his  business 
affairs  till  Christmas,  when  he  found  himself  too  unwell  to  participate 
in  the  festivities  of  the  day.  It  was  not,  however,  until  Saturday 
evening  that  he  felt  the  necessity  of  medical  attendance.  His  family 
physician  was  summoned,  and  upon  examination  pronounced  the 
disease  to  be  congestion  of  the  lungs,  not  of  such  a  nature,  however, 
as  to  cause  alarm.  But  he  gradually  failed  during  the  day,  and, 
finally,  at  eleven  o'clock  in  the  evening,  died  while  sitting  in  his 
chair.  Thus  he  passed  over  the  river  before  many  beyond  his  own 
family  circle  knew  of  his  sickness. 

Mr.  CROCKER  was  born  in  Leominster,  Mass.,  October  14,  1801, 
and  consequently  was  seventy-three  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his 
death.  His  father,  a  hard-working,  energetic  man,  was  a  paper 
manufacturer.  He  placed  his  son  Alvah  in  the  mill  to  learn  the 
trade  when  but  eight  years  of  age.  The  boy  was  anxious  to  secure 
for  himself  better  educational  advantages  than  cpuld  be  obtained  at 
that  time  in  our  public  schools.  By  practicing  the  most  rigid  econ- 
omy he  was  enabled  to  acquire  an  academical  education. 

When  twenty-two  years  of  age  he  moved  to  the  neighboring  town 
of  Fitchburgh,  and  commenced  the  manufacture  of  paper  for  him- 
self. Beginning  with  nothing  but  an  inheritance  of  poverty  and 
toil,  he  struggled  along  against  untold  difficulties  and  with  varied 


34 


ADDRESS  OF  MR.  WASHBURN  ON  THE 


success.  With  means  so  very  limited  he  was  obliged  to  commence 
in  a  small  way,  but  gradually  extended  his  business  as  he  was  able 
until  he  became  the  important  proprietor  of  six  or  eight  large  estab- 
lishments, and  one  of  the  most  extensive  and  most  successful  paper 
manufacturers  in  the  country. 

But  his  time  and  energies  were  by  no  means  confined  to  the  pros- 
ecution of  his  own  business.  He  was  a  man  of  liberal  views  and 
large  public  spirit;  he  took  special  interest  in  the  prosperity  and 
growth  of  the  town  in  which  he  lived.  He  did  more  than  any  other 
inhabitant  to  develop  its  resources ;  he  devoted  not  only  his  time  but 
most  liberally  his  means  to  this  end.  From  a  small  town  of  some 
two  thousand  inhabitants  when  he  commenced  business  it  has  grown 
to  be  one  of  the  most  beautiful,  thrifty  cities  in  the  State,  with  a  pop- 
ulation of  over  fifteen  thousand.  The  variety  of  its  industries,  the 
busy  hum  of  its  machinery,  its  railroad  facilities  quickening  into 
renewed  intensity  the  exchanges  of  business  and  the  intercourse  of 
men,  all  combine  to  make  it  one  of  the  most  attractive  municipalities 
in  the  State.  Mr.  CROCKER  desired  to  develop  and  utilize  every 
waterfall  in  the  town.  To  this  end  he  secured  new  and  unexpected 
means  of  transportation  to,  and  communication  with,  every  section 
of  the  State.  Not  that  his  vision  was  narrowed  and  circumscribed 
within  the  limits  of  his  own  town. 

When  the  system  of  railroads  had  hardly  been  commenced,  when 
but  few  miles  had  been  built  in  the  country,  when  most  business  men 
refused  to  risk  their  capital  in  such  visionary  enterprises,  Mr.  CROCKER 
conceived  the  idea  of  constructing  a  railroad  from  his  town  to  Bos- 
ton, in  order  that  the  northern  part  of  the  State  might  have  free  and 
easy  access  to  the  seaboard.  He  labored  long  and  earnestly  to 
secure  a  charter  for  this  road.  He  met  with  considerable  opposition 
uot  only  from  many  of  the  most  influential  men  in  the  eastern  part 
of  the  State,  but  also  from  those  who  resided  along  the  line  of  the 
route.  It  was  thought  that  the  scheme  would  end  in  utter  failure. 


LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  ALVAH  CROCKER.       35 

But  Mr.  CROCKER  knew  no  defeat,  but  when  rejected  by  one  legis- 
lature, applied  to  another  until  he  obtained  his  charter.  Then,  with 
unexampled  energy  and  faith,  he  pushed  forward  the  enterprise  to  a 
most  speedy  completion.  In  March,  1845,  he  rode  in  triumph  into 
Fitchburgh  upon  the  first  locomotive  that  ever  entered  the  town. 

But  this  was  but  the  commencement  of  the  great  work  he  had  in 
mind.  His  plan  embraced  a  complete  and  extended  railway  system 
for  the  northern  part  of  the  State.  Hence  he  proceeded  at  once  to 
secure  a  charter  for  the  Vermont  and  Massachusetts  Railroad  which 
would  extend  the  line  from  Fitchburgh  to  the  western  part  of  the 
State,  thence  into  the  State  of  Vermont.  He  was  more  largely  instru- 
mental in  the  construction  of  this  road  also  than  any  other  person. 
But  he  well  knew  that  these  roads  would  be  of  little  benefit  to  any 
except  to  those  who  resided  in  their  immediate  vicinity  unless  a  con- 
nection could  be  made  with  the  West.  Hence  his  next  step  was  to 
secure  a  charter  for  a  road  from  the  Vermont  and  Massachusetts  road 
through  the  Hoosac  Mountain.  This  was  no  ordinary  task.  The 
road  would  be  very  expensive  and  most  difficult  to  construct.  It 
required  the  construction  of  a  tunnel  through  the  mountains  five 
miles  in  length.  Such  were  the  difficulties  to  be  overcome,  so  great 
the  expenditures  to  be  made,  that  few  men  had  faith  to  believe  that 
the  undertaking  would  ever  be  successful.  But  from  first  to  last  Mr. 
CROCKER  never  hesitated  or  doubted.  He  lived  to  see  his  predic- 
tions for  twenty-five  years  verified,  and  the  tunnel,  the  object  of  his 
dreams  by  night  and  of  his  toil  by  day,  completed. 

Some  ten  years  ago  his  attention  was  called  to  the  most  extensive 
water-power  in  the  State,  at  Turner's  Falls,  on  the  Connecticut  River, 
which  had  never  been  improved.  He  concluded  to  devote  his  ener- 
gies and  means  to  its  dvelopment.  A  company  was  organized,  of 
which  he  was  the  president  and  the  leading  spirit.  The  power  and 
the  territory  adjacent  were  purchased,  a  dam  and  canal  constructed, 
machine-shops,  paper-mills,  and  extensive  factories  erected,  and  the 


36          ADDRESS  OF  MR.  WASHBURN  ON  THE 

region  which  yesterday  was  a  desolate,  barren  waste  has  to-day 
become  a  beautiful,  flourishing  town  with  its  thousands  of  inhabit- 
ants. The  beautiful  churches,  school-houses,  and  public  and  private 
structures  of  every  variety  attract  the  attention  and  call  forth  the 
admiration  of  the  beholder.  A  national  bank  of  discount  and  a 
savings  institution  each  bear  his  name,  and  he  was  the  president  of 
each.  Turner's  Falls  stands  to-day  with  its  wonderful  improvements 
as  a  monument  to  the  energy  and  foresight  of  Mr.  CROCKER. 

Mr.  CROCKER  served  three  terms  in  the  lower  and  two  in  the  up- 
per house  of  the  Massachusetts  legislature  with  credit  to  himself 
and  honor  to  his  constituents.  In  1871  he  visited  Europe  on  ac- 
count of  the  sickness  of  his  wife,  and  during  his  absence  was  elected 
to  the  Forty-second  Congress,  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  my  res- 
ignation. He  was  re-elected  to  the  Forty-third  Congress  by  14,919 
votes  against  4,588  for  the  democratic  candidate.  He  declined  to 
be  a  candidate  at  the  last  election.  When  he  entered  upon  his  du- 
ties here  he  was  over  seventy  years  of  age,  and  much  of  the  time  his 
health  was  so  impaired  that  it  was  with  difficulty  that  he  attended  to 
his  official  duties.  In  public  as  in  private  life  he  was  strictly  honest. 
He  discharged  all  his  duties  in  a  most  conscientious  manner.  No 
jobbery  or  corruption  was  ever  traced  to  his  door;  but  his  entire  rec- 
ord stands  above  suspicion. 

Of  his  private  life,  of  his  genial  and  liberal  hospitality,  of  the 
strength  and  warmth  of  his  friendship,  there  is  no  time  or  need  of 
reference  on  this  occasion.  Beyond  the  immediate  circle  of  his 
friends,  he  will  be  specially  mourned  by  the  large  company  of  his 
business  associates  among  whom  the  greater  part  of  his  daily  life  has 
been  passed,  by  the  thousands  of  employes  who  were  more  or  less 
dependent  on  him  for  their  daily  sustenance,  and  by  that  untold 
number  who  have  been  the  recipients  for  many  long  years  of  his 
charities. 

Mr.  CROCKER  was  not  without  his  faults.     Like  most  men  he 


LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  ALVAH  CROCKER.      37 

made  his  mistakes  and  had  his  weaknesses.  But  on  such  an  occa- 
sion as  this  we  may  well  forget  these.  If  we  estimate  his  worth  by 
what  he  has  accomplished  for  the  community  in  which  he  lived,  for 
the  section  of  the  State  in  which  he  resided,  few  men  will  bear  com- 
parison with  him.  May  it  be  ours  to  gather  up  and  cherish  the 
memory  of  his  many  virtues. 

Mr.  President,  I  send  to  the  desk  resolutions  which  I  offer  for  the 
consideration  of  the  Senate. 

The  VICE-PRESIDENT.  The  resolutions  will  be  read. 

The  Secretary  read  as  follows : 

Resolved,  That  the  Senate  has  received  with  deep  sensibility  the 
announcement  of  the  death  of  Hon.  ALVAH  CROCKER,  late  a  mem- 
ber of  the  House  of  Representatives  from  the  State  of  Massachu- 
setts. 

Resolved,  That  as  a  mark  of  respect  for  the  memory  of  Mr. 
CROCKER,  the  members  of  the  Senate  will  wear  the  usual  badge  of 
mourning  for  thirty  days. 

.  Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  transmitted  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Senate  to  the  family  of  the  deceased. 


ADDRESS    OF    ^VlR.    'JVADLEIGH,    OF    J^EW    j^AMPSHIRE. 

Mr.  PRESIDENT:  A  residence  of  some  years  near  the  home  of 
ALVAH  CROCKER  and  a  knowledge  of  his  reputation  there  lead  me 
to  pay  a  brief  tribute  to  his  memory. 

His  reputation  was  not  won  in  political  warfare  nor  in  public  life. 
Five  years  in  the  Massachusetts  legislature  and  two  in  the  national 
House  of  Representatives  after  the  age  of  three-score  and  ten  were 
not  sufficient  for  that.  Yet  he  always  manifested  good  sense,  sin- 
cerity, praiseworthy  fidelity  to  the  interests  of  his  constituents,  and 
enlarged  patriotism. 


38  ADDRESS    OF   MR.    WADLEIGH. 

But  his  reputation  was  won  in  the  course  of  a  long  and  successful 
business  career.  Beginning  life  in  obscurity  and  poverty,  at  the 
early  age  of  eight  years  he  was  a  factory  operative.  But  his  energy 
and  ability  conquered  adverse  circumstances.  He  secured  an  edu- 
cation which  furnished  a  foundation  for  business  success,  and 
achieved  a  large  fortune.  That  fortune  was  not  used  mainly  for  his 
personal  advantage;  it  was  used  to  forward  and  complete  enter- 
prises which  have  largely  contributed  to  the  growth  and  prosperity 
of  Northern  Massachusetts.  The  people  whose  welfare  he  had  pro- 
moted manifested  their  respect  for  him  by  sending  him  to  represent 
them  in  Congress  when  at  the  advanced  age  of  seventy-one  years  by 
an  overwhelming  majority. 

What  can  be  said  of  him  in  these  Halls  will  do  comparatively 
little  to  perpetuate  his  memory.  He  has  a  nobler  and  more 
enduring  monument  than  speech  can  rear.  In  Worcester  County, 
upon  the  rocky  banks  of  a  flashing  river  hurrying  swiftly  to  the 
sea,  stands  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  thriving  cities  of  New 
England,  which  within  a  few  years  has  been  created  and  which 
owes  very  of  much  what  it  is  to  the  business  ability  and  public  spirit 
of  ALVAH  CROCKER.  Till  that  city  perishes  will  his  memory  be 
preserved  as  one  of  its  founders. 

The  resolutions  were  adopted  unanimously. 


MEMORIAL  ADDRESSES 


OF 


SAM'L  F.  HERSEY, 


(  A  REPRESENTATIVE  FROM  MAINE,) 


DELIVERED   IN  THE 


FEBRUARY  20,    1875. 


PUBLISHED  BY  ORDER  OF  CONGRESS. 


FORTY -THIRD  CONGRESS,  SECOND  SESSION. 
1875. 


ADDRESSES 


DEATH  OF  SAJVTL  F.  HERSEY, 


PROCEEDINGS  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES. 


ADDRESS  OF    MR.   WALE,  OF    MAINE. 

Mr.  SPEAKER  :  We  are  but  five  in  all  in  this  House  from  the  State  of 
Maine  when  all  are  present,  and  one  of  our  number  has  been  taken 
away  by  death.  Hon.  SAMUEL  FREEMAN  HERSEY,  who  represented 
the  fourth  district  of  Maine  in  this  Congress,  died  at  his  home  in 
Bangor  on  the  3d  day  of  this  month.  The  fatal  disease  that  at  last 
ended  in  death  fastened  upon  him  many  months  ago  and  broke 
down  the  physical  strength  which  had  been  marked  in  his  previous 
life.  It  interfered  seriously  with  his  duties  in  the  last  session  of  this 
Congress,  driving  him  from  the  Capitol  in  the  late  winter  months 
after  he  had  resolutely  fought  its  approaches,  turned  his  home  during 
the  summer  and  fall  into  a  house  of  sickness,  and  inexorably  forbade 
any  attempt  to  share  in  the  labors  and  duties  of  the  present  session. 
The  resolute  will  of  my  late  colleague  and  friend  was  so  noticeable 
a  feature  in  his  character  that  I  shall  be  well  borne  out  by  those 
who  knew  him  best  in  saying  that  nothing  less  than  the  painful 
disease  under  which  he  suffered  could  have  kept  him  away  from  the 
post  to  which  a  trusting  people  had  called  him.  As  I  remember  him 


6  R 


42  ADDRESS   OF    MR.    HALE   ON   THE 

and  recall  an  acquaintance  of  many  years,  there  arises  before  me  no 
instance  when  he  shrank  from  a  duty  laid  upon  him. 

General  HERSEY  was  born  in  Sumner,  in  the  county  of  Oxford, 
and  State  of  Maine,  on  the  226.  of  April,  1812.  He  came  from 
revolutionary  stock,  his  maternal  grandfather  having  been  an  officer 
in  the  war  for  Independence ;  and  he  was  reared  in  that  best  school 
for  early  boyhood  which  the  New  England  fireside,  hillside,  and 
school-house  furnish.  When  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  entered 
upon  mercantile  business  for  himself,  he  had  secured  the  good 
education  that  the  district  school  and  the  county  academy  afforded, 
and  was  well  fitted  to  enter  into  the  conflict  of  active  life.  In  busi- 
ness he  almost  always  prospered,  increasing  his  ventures  and  his 
gains  from  year  to  year,  and,  latterly,  extending  his  operations  into 
Minnesota,  Wisconsin,  and  other  Northwestern  States.  He  was 
prompt  and  energetic  in  affairs;  honest  and  conscientious  in  his 
dealings ;  and  as  his  fortune  increased  gave  liberally  of  his  store. 

He  was  always  trusted  by  the  people  among  whom  he  lived, 
representing  the  town  of  Milford  in  the  lower  house  of  the  Maine 
legislature  in  1842;  the  city  of  Bangor,  to  which  he  afterward 
removed,  in  one  branch  or  the  other  of  the  State  legislature  in  1857, 
1865,  1867,  and  1869;  besides  serving  for  some  years  as  a  member 
of  the  executive  council.  After  filling  other  important  State  offices, 
he  was  first  elected  to  this  House  in  September,  1872,  and  was 
re-elected  in  1874.  From  participation  in  what  promised  to  be  the 
stirring  scenes  of  the  Forty-fourth  Congress,  he  has  been  cut  off. 
Had  he  lived,  his  position  must  always  have  been  clearly  defined. 
His  was  never  a  halting  or  doubtful  course.  His  religious  and 
political  beliefs  were  a  part  of  his  life ;  and  he  accepted  the  conse- 
quences of  those  beliefs  boldly. 

This  positiveness  of  character  led  him  not  to  fear  antagonism;  but 
his  kindness  of  heart  raised  up  friends  and  prevented  life-long 
enmities. 


LIFE  AND    CHARACTER   OF   SAMUEL   F.    HERSEY.          43 

Mr.  Speaker,  our  deceased  colleague  will  be  greatly  missedan  our 
own  State,  where  he  has  been  for  years  a  prominent  citizen ;  to  his 
neighbors  and  friends  the  loss  will  come  nearer ;  to  his  family  it  can 
never  be  repaired.  On  this  floor  those  who  knew  him  during  the 
brief  weeks  that  he  was  in  attendance  know  that  this  House  has  lost 
an  honest,  useful  member. 

But  awful  as  is  the  coming  of  death,  and  sobering  as  must  be  its 
contemplation,  the  way  along  which  a  human  life  is  sometimes  led  to 
it  is  so  beset  with  suffering  and  agony  that  to  our  limited  vision  the 
final  summons  must  then  seem  more  like  a  relief  than  a  doom. 

General  HERSEY'S  disease  was  severe  and  protracted.  It  never 
broke  down  his  mind  or  his  spirit,  but  it  wasted  his  body  and  racked 
him  with  pain  such  as  few  men  fortunately  are  ever  called  to  endure. 
It  was  incurable;  and  at  last  he  sank  under  it.  But  he  died  in  his 
own  house,  with  his  wife  and  children  about  him,  and  loving  hands 
smoothed  his  winter  shroud.  Thinking  of  how  vexed  had  been  his 
last  days  and  how  peaceful  was  his  death,  who  will  not  ask  with 
Spenser — 

Is  not  short  pain  well  borne  that  brings  long  ease  , 

And  lays  the  soul  to  rest  in  quiet  grave  ? 
Sleep  after  toil,  port  after  stormy  seas, 
Peace  after  war,  death  after  life  doth  sometimes  greatly  please. 

Mr.  Speaker,  I  move  the  following  resolutions : 

Resolved,  That  this  House  has  heard  with  deep  regret  the  death  of 
Hon.  SAMUEL  F.  HERSEY,  a  member  of  this  House  from  the  State 
of  Maine. 

Resolved,  That  as  a  testimonial  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  the 
deceased,  the  officers  and  members  of  this  House  will  wear  the  usual 
badge  of  mourning  for  the  space  of  thirty  days. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  transmitted  by  the 
Clerk  to  the  family  of  the  deceased. 


44  ADDRESS    OF   MR.    FRYE    ON   THE 


ADDRESS    OF    yVS.R. 

The  ordinary  labors  of  this  legislative  hall  are  suspended,  its  con- 
fusion hushed,  and  a  new  spirit  holds  supremacy  here  now.  A 
remarkable  event  induces  silence  and  solemnity,  admonishing  us 

that — 

Art  is  long  and  time  is  fleeting, 

And  our  hearts,  though  stout  and  brave, 
Still  like  muffled  drums  are  beating 

Funeral  marches  to  the  grave — 

admonishes  us  that  life  is  uncertain  and  death  is  certain ;  admonishes 
us  that  what  we  have  to  do  we  ought  to  do  quickly  and  well. 

Sir,  death  is  making  a  terrible  havoc  in  our  ranks  Within  less 
than  one  year  six  members  of  the  New  England  delegation  in  Con- 
gress have  died,  each  one  of  whom  in  his  chosen  business  or  walk 
in  life  was  a  pre-eminently  successful  man.  Statesmanship,  law, 
commerce,  and  manufactures  have  made  monumental  contributions 
to  the  city  of  the  dead.  To-day  the  death  of  three  of  them  has 
been  announced  on  this  floor;  two,  men  full  of  years  and  full  of 
honors,  each  of  whom  had  reached  nearly  if  not  quite  that  allotment 
^o  man's  life  of  three  score  years  and  ten ;  each  of  them  like  a  ripe 
shock  of  corn  gathered  to  his  fathers,  leaving  a  legacy  behind  him 
of  a  well-rounded  and  perfect  life. 

Our  colleague,  General  HERSEY,  was  cut  down  in  the  very  prime 
and  vigor  of  life.  To  the  casual  observer  his  work,  though  well 
done,  was  only  half  done ;  his  life  a  partial  failure,  his  battle  not 
fought  out,  and  the  broken  shaft  would  be  a  fitting  monument  to  his 
memory,  the  emblem  of  life  incomplete.  But  to  us  who  knew  him 
well  and  for  years  have  known  him  well  he  had  finished  his  fight 
and  won  the  victory ;  he  had  run  the  race  and  reached  the  goal. 
Were  we  to  build  his  monument,  its  base  would  be  broad,  strong, 
deep  laid,  where  no  frost  could  heave  and  no  tempest  move ;  and 
its  shaft  should  be  beautiful,  white,  perfect. 


LIFE   AND    CHARACTER   OF    SAMUEL   F.    HERSEY.          45 

To  his  business  career  General  HERSEY  brought  earnestness  of 
purpose,  strict  integrity,  economy,  habits  of  industry,  and  an  indom- 
itable will.  His  hope  was  so  bright  and  buoyant  that  no  defeat  ever 
made  him  despondent ;  his  courage  was  so  strong  and  sure  that  no 
lion  in  his  path  ever  turned  him  aside ;  his  integrity  so  strict  and 
steadfast  that  no  shadow  of  suspicion  ever  darkened  his  fair  name. 
I  remember,  when  he  with  others  was  surety  on  a  defaulting  State 
treasurer's  bonds,  he  interposed  no  legal  technicality,  not  even  an 
equitable  defense,  but  promptly  paid  every  dollar  not  only  that  the 
law  could  demand,  but  all  a  quickened  and  sensitive  conscience 
could  suggest.  Such  was  his  sagacity  that  his  plans  never  mis- 
carried. 

The  city  he  lived  in  and  his  State  poured  wealth  into  his  coffers ; 
and,  as  my  colleague  has  well  said,  the  States  of  the  great  West,  too, 
were  compelled  to  contribute,  until  when  he  died  he  was  one  of  the 
wealthiest,  if  not  the  wealthiest,  man  in  Maine.  Then,  sir,  as  a  busi- 
ness man  stainless,  owing  no  man,  neither  defrauding  nor  dealing 
hardly  with  any  man ;  indulging  in  no  rash  and  reckless  speculations; 
prosperous,  successful  in  every  endeavor;  rich  beyond  his  most 
ardent  hopes — do  I  not  say  well,  his  life  was  complete  ? 

But,  sir,  could  I  say  nothing  more  than  this  it  would  seem  to 
me  but  the  cold  praise  exacted  by  strict  justice.  My  heart  would 
give  no  response ;  my  affection  pay  no  tribute.  A  man's  life  lived 
for  self  alone  is  a  failure.  General  HERSEY  lived  another,  a  higher, 
a  purer,  a  nobler  life  than  this  of  amassing  wealth.  The  stream 
which  turns  the  wheel  of  the  mill  and  drives  the  spindle  and  the 
loom  does  its  duty ;  but  never  this  alone.  All  along  its  course,  from 
its  source  to  its  mouth,  it  continually  makes  green  the  grass,  waters 
the  flowers,  gives  life  to  the  tree.  So  General  HERSEY  all  through 
his  long,  active,  business  career  never  for  one  moment  when  over- 
taking and  passing  by  his  less  fortunate  fellow-man  forgot  him,  but 
stretched  out  to  him  a  helping  hand,  gave  him  words  of  good  cheer. 


46  ADDRESS   OF   MR.    FRYE   ON   THE 

And  I  know  of  many  a  man  to-day  in  my  own  State  and  some  here, 
living  now  in  comfort,  who  owe  all  that  they  have  to  his  kind  words 

and  liberal  deeds. 

For  his  bounty 

There  was  no  winter  in't ;  an  autumn  't  was, 
That  grew  the  more  by  reaping. 

In  social  life  General  HERSEY  was  the  gayest  among  the  gay,  his 
presence  always  joyfully  received,  and  his  absence  always  felt  with 
grief.  To  the  poor,  the  feeble,  and  the  dependent  his  face  always 
brought  with  it  healing,  strength,  and  hope.  His  hearty,  cheerful 
manner  was  like  the  sunbeam  breaking  through  the  prison-bars, 
making  for  the  whiles  the  gloom  of  the  cell  brightness. 

The  cause  of  education  lost  one  of  its  best  and  most  beneficent 
friends  when  he  died.  Institutions  of  learning  in  my  own  State  and 
in  others  to-day  mourn  for  the  loss  of  a  liberal,  bountiful  benefactor. 
In  politics  he  was  always  welcome  to  the  party  whose  policy  he 
espoused,  for  he  was  one  of  the  most  zealous,  earnest  men  I  ever  saw, 
giving  new  strength  and  courage  to  his  party. 

His  people  loved  him ;  and  there  never  was  an  office  in  their  gift 
he  could  not  command ;  yet  his  modesty  led  him  to  accept  but  few. 
The  devotion  of  his  constituents  was  well  illustrated  in  the  fact,  as 
my  colleague  has  stated,  that  here  in  this  House  for  this  term  of 
Congress  he  has  been  nearly  the  whole  time  unable  to  perform  any 
of  the  ordinary  duties  of  a  member,  yet  before  the  last  election, 
though  most  understood,  or  feared  at  least,  that  he  was  upon  his  dying 
bed,  he  was  renominated  by  acclamation  and  re-elected  by  an 
increased  majority. 

It  may  be  and  it  may  seem  to  many  gentlemen  a  little  thing,  but  I 
cannot  help  mentioning  it  in  filling  out  this  life  of  my  colleague, 
that  if  you  walked  with  him  through  the  streets  of  his  native  city 
you  would  see  little  children  greeting  him  and  he  them  all  along 
your  way. 

Sir,  I  tell  you  the  man  who  loves  children  and  whom  children  love 


LIFE   AND   CHARACTER   OF   SAMUEL   F.    HERSEY. 


47 


is  not  and  cannot  be  a  bad  man.  The  children  of  his  Sunday-school, 
to  whom  he  had  again  and  again  given  words  of  wisdom  and  coun- 
sel, met  the  other  day  in  his  native  city  and  passed  resolutions 
indicative  of  sorrows  at  their  irreparable  loss. 

The  church  mourns  General  HERSEY  as  one  of  its  pillars  broken. 
His  memory  will  be  fresh'  and  green  always.  He  was  no  sectarian; 
he  was  no  bigot ;  but  he  loved  with  his  whole  heart  the  church  of 
his  choice.  I  remember  Webster  once  said  "  religion  is  a  necessary 
and  indispensable  element  in  any  great  human  character."  My  late 
colleague  was  a  religious  man.  His  religion  can  be  summed  up  in 
two  commandments,  "To  love  God  and  to  love  one's  neighbor." 
We  who  knew  him  knew  that  he  could  pray ;  for 

He  prayeth  best  who  loveth  best 

All  things  both  great  and  small ; 
For  the  dear  God  who  loveth  us, 

He  made  and  loveth  all. 

Sir,  did  I  not  say  well,  then,  that  his  life  was  well  rounded,  and 
perfect,  too  ? 

Our  sympathies,  sir,  go  out  to  his  bereaved  family.  They  have 
suffered  a  loss  for  which  now  they  can  see  no  compensation  whatever. 
To  the  widow  and  to  the  fatherless  children  we  can  only  say,  "Death 
is  the  crown  of  such  a  life." 


j&DDRKSS    OF    yW.R.    pUNNELL,    OF    ^MINNESOTA. 

Mr.  SPEAKER:  In  the  winter  of  1854,  at  Augusta,  the  capital  of 
Maine,  I  formed  the  acquaintance  of  the  late  SAMUEL  F.  HERSEY. 
He  was  at  that  time  in  the  full  strength  of  middle  life,  and  was 
among  the  foremost  of  the  leading  business  men  of  Eastern  Maine. 


48          ADDRESS  OF  MR.  DUNNELL  ON  THE 

That  rank  he  held  till  continued  ill-health,  commencing  soon  after 
his  election  to  this  Congress,  compelled  his  retirement. 

Mr.  HERSEY  had  his  birth  at  Sumner,  in  the  county  of  Oxford,  in 
1812.  At  his  majority,  or  soon  after,  he  sought  his  home  and  theater 
of  labor  in  the  city  of  Bangor,  the  then  central  point  of  the  large 
lumbering  interests  of  Maine.  At  this  period  in  the  history  of  the 
State,  his  adopted  home  was  especially  noted  for  the  enterprise  and 
ability  of  its  professional  and  business  men.  Its  prosperity  and  prom- 
ise had  drawn  to  it  from  the  neighboring  counties,  and  indeed  from 
the  neighboring  States,  not  a  few  men  who  have  since  then  honored 
the  State  in  every  department  of  life.  This  comparatively  new  city 
at  that  time  welcomed  every  bold  comer.  Mr.  HERSEY,  at  the  very 
start  of  his  business  life,  was  as  bold  in  purpose  as  in  form  were  the 
hills  of  his  native  county.  He  entered  the  race  to  reach  the  goal. 
Success  in  honorable  business  was  the  end  he  sought.  That  end  he 
attained  by  wise  foresight,  just  means,  unflagging  endeavor,  and 
unimpeachable  character. 

His  large  acquisitions,  the  manner,  time,  and  place  of  his  invest- 
ments, attest  a  superior  order  of  judgment.  The  steady  increase  in  the 
rewards  to  his  industry  indicates  the  possession  of  a  mind  which  could 
and  did  grasp  all  the  conditions  of  success.  His  eminent  prosperity 
was  not  a  result  of  chance.  He  had  it  because  he  deserved  it ;  because 
his  plans  and  courses  of  action  by  an  inevitable  law  gave  it  to  him. 

As  time  passed  arid  his  means  increased,  his  operations  were  largely 
diversified.  He  was  a  merchant,  banker,  and  lumberman.  He 
invested  in  timber-lands,  both  East  and  West,  in  mining,  insurance, 
banking,  and  railroads.  Maine  has  not  alone  witnessed  his  achieve- 
ments. In  1854  he  commenced  the  purchase  of  timber-lands  in 
Minnesota  and  Wisconsin,  and  with  others  erected  a  mill  for  the 
manufacture  of  lumber  at  Stillwater,  in  the  State  of  Minnesota. 
Since  that  time  he  has  had  large  interests  at  that  point  and  elsewhere 
in  the  State.  His  money  has  aided  in  the  construction  of  at  least  two 


LIFE   AND    CHARACTER   OF    SAMUEL   F.    HERSEY.  49 

of  the  railroads  in  our  State.  He  owned  at  the  time  of  his  death  not 
less  than  seventy -five  thousand  acres  of  timber-lands  in  Minnesota  and 
Wisconsin,  and  no  inconsiderable  amount  in  Michigan  and  Maine. 

Minnesota,  therefore,  Mr.  Speaker,  unites  with  Maine  in  expres- 
sions of  profound  sorrow  at  the  death  of  a  citizen  so  eminently 
deserving  the  honors  conferred  upon  him  in  his  native  State  and  the 
respect  paid  him  wherever  known.  As  sincere  mourners  dwell  on 
the  banks  of  the  Saint  Croix  and  of  the  Mississippi  as  of  the  Penob- 
scot.  So  large  were  his  investments  in  the  State  and  so  early  did  he 
participate  in  her  development  that  we  almost  deemed  him  an  addi- 
tion to  our  own  delegation  to  this  House.  While  he  had  his  home 
in  the  East,  he  was  deeply  in  love  with  the  West.  He  appreciated 
the  extent  and  character  of  her  needs  and  her  capacities.  He  fully 
realized  her  immense  possibilities,  and  was  ready  to  favor  measures 
which,  to  the  more  conservative,  seemed  little  less  than  visionary. 

Mr.  HERSEY  was  thrice  married.  Four  sons  were  the  fruit  of  the 
second  marriage.  Two  of  these  sons  are  residents  of  Maine  and  two 
of  Minnesota. 

Prior  to  1854  the  deceased  was  a  member  of  the  democratic  party. 
Up  to  that  year  he  followed  the  fortunes  of  this  party  with  the  same 
enthusiasm  and  devotion  with  which  he  afterward,  and  till  his  death, 
sustained  those  of  the  republican.  He  was  five  times  a  member  of 
the  Maine  house  of  representatives  and  twice  a  member  of  the  exec- 
utive council.  In,  addition  toother  honors,  he  was  elected  to  this 
and  the  Forty-fourth  Congress.  In  politics,  he  was  sincere  and 
earnest.  His  convictions  found  expression  in  bold  and  straight-for- 
ward action.  His  position  on  pending  questions  was  never  left  to 
conjecture.  He  was  sufficiently  radical  to  be  secure  against  the  temp- 
tations of  a  timid  and  therefore  dangerous  conservatism.  His  patriot- 
ism was  too  ardent  to  lend  its  ear  to  the  voice  of  mere  policy.  He 
was  a  most  valuable  member  of  the  republican  party,  for  he  was  in 
it  from  conviction  and  was  unswerving  and  unceasing  in  labor  and 


7  R 


50  ADDRESS   OF   MR.    DUNNELL   ON   THE 

counsel  to  keep  alive  that  aggressive  spirit  which  leads  to  party 
achievement.     He  did  not  falter,  though  others  fell  behind. 

Among  innumerable  false,  unmoved, 

Unshaken,  unseduced,  unterrified, 

His  loyalty  he  kept,  his  love,  his  zeal; 

Nor  number,  or  example  with  him  wrought, 

To  swerve  from  truth  or  change  his  constant  mind, 

Though  single. 

Mr.  HERSEY  was  not  well  known  to  the  members  of  this  House. 
He  came  here  a  sick  man  and  therefore  was  not  himself.  His  sick- 
ness affected  his  mind  and  spirit  as  well  as  body.  When  in  health 
his  mind  was  intensely  active  and  his  spirits  always  buoyant.  He 
was  happy  in  every  place  and  amid  all  labors;  he  was  free  and 
genial;  his  manners  made  him  friends,  and  his  open  kindness  gave 
him  influence. 

His  donations  to  institutions  of  learning  and  to  churches  were  very 
considerable.  Many  a  locality  will  long  cherish  his  memory.  His 
accumulations  of  wealth  did  not  make  him  deaf  to  the  calls  of  the 
poor  or  forgetful  of  the  teachings  of  religion.  Our  friend  died  at 
home.  Death  approached  him  in  slow,  yet  certain  steps.  He  saw 
the  enemy  at  a  distance  and  watched  his  advance.  He  had  months 
in  which  to  review  life's  work  and  bring  to  his  lips,  "Thy  will  be 
done."  His  faith  in  the  world's  Redeemer  took  away  every  fear 
of  the  grave.  He  had  wrought  life's  work  with  a  fervent  heart;  his 
duties  had  been  well  performed  and  his  days  well  spent. 

O,  what  a  glory  doth  this  world  put  on 
For  him  who,  with  fervent  heart,  goes  forth 
Under  the  bright  and  glorious  sky,  and  looks 
On  duties  well  performed,  and  days  well  spent ! 
For  him  the  wind,  ay,  and  the  yellow  leaves, 
Shall  have  a  voice  and  give  him  eloquent  teachings. 
He  shall  so  hear  the  solemn  hymn,  that  Death 
Has  lifted  up  for  all,  that  he  shall  go 
To  his  long  resting-place  without  a  tear. 

The  question  was  taken  on  the  resolutions,  and  they  were  unani- 
mously agreed  to. 


LIFE   AND   CHARACTER   OF    SAMUEL   F.    HERSEY.  51 


PROCEEDINGS     IN     THE     SENATE. 


A  message  from  the  House  of  Representatives,  by  Mr.  McPherson, 
its  Clerk,  communicated  to  the  Senate  intelligence  of  the  death  of 
Hon.  SAMUEL  F.  HERSEY,  late  a  member  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives from  the  State  of  Maine,  and  transmitted  the  resolutions 
of  the  House  thereon. 


ADDRESS    OF    ^VlR.    JfAMLIN,    OF     M.AINE. 

I  rise  for  the  purpose  of  asking  the  Senate  to  consider  the  resolu- 
tions just  communicated  from  the  House  of  Representatives. 

The  VICE-PRESIDENT.  The  resolutions  will  be  read. 

The  Secretary  read  the  resolutions  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, as  follows : 

Resolved,  That  this  House  has  heard  with  deep  regret  of  the 
death  of  Hon.  SAMUEL  F.  HERSEY,  late  a  member  of  this  House 
from  the  State  of  Maine. 

Resolved,  That  as  a  testimony  of  respect  for  the  memory  of  the 
deceased,  the  officers  and  members  of  this  House  will  wear  the  usual 
badge  of  mourning  for  the  space  of  thirty  days. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  transmitted  by  the 
Clerk  to  the  family  of  the  deceased. 

Mr.  PRESIDENT:  The  resolutions  which  have  just  been  read, 
informing  the  Senate  of  the  decease  of  my  colleague  in  the  House, 


52  ADDRESS   OF   MR.    HAM  LIN   ON   THE 

furnish  another  admonition  to  us  all  of  the  frailty  of  human 
existence.  Another  seat  has  been  made  vacant  in  the  Halls  of 
Congress.  Its  warning  may,  as  it  should,  subserve  a  useful  purpose. 
The  event,  though  not  unexpected,  brings  to  myself  a  sorrow  that  I 
cannot  express.  The  deceased  was  my  friend.  In  all  the  relations 
and  vicissitudes  of  life,  in  all  its  changing  scenes,  from  youth  to 
manhood,  from  manhood  to  mature  age,  and  for  more  than  half  the 
period  of  life  allotted  to  man,  we  were  knit  together  in  an  unceasing 
and  unbroken  friendship.  He  was  a  friend  who  could  "bear  a 
friend's  infirmities."  How  impressively  am  I  reminded,  as  it 
becomes  my  sad  duty  to  pay  an  earnest  and  truthful  tribute  to  his 
memory  and  his  worth,  that  under  the  decrees  of  an  inscrutable 
Providence  he  might  well  have  been  spared  to  perform  a  like  service 
to  mine. 

General  HERSEY  came  to  this  city  at  the  commencement  of  the 
present  Congress  to  discharge  the  duties  which  had  been  imposed 
upon  him  by  a  generous  and  confiding  constituency.  He  was  then 
in  feeble  health;  but  having  been  possessed  of  great  physical  power, 
it  was  the  hope  and  belief  of  himself  and  friends  that  a  more  genial 
climate  than  his  home  afforded  would  restore  him  to  health.  In 
that  hope  all  have  been  disappointed.  Failing  health,  however, 
compelled  him,  much  against  his  will,  to  withdraw  from  active 
participation  in  his  official  duties,  and  to  seek  the  best  medical 
advice  that  could  be  afforded  in  a  neighboring  city.  From  thence 
he  repaired  to  his  own  home  in  an  apparently  improved  and 
improving  condition,  giving  to  his  friends  a  renewed  hope  of  his 
permanent  recovery.  This  hope  was  strengthened  by  his  own  faith, 
which  impressed  itself  upon  all  around  him,  giving  assurance  even  to 
the  despondent.  Indeed,  his  own  belief  in  his  final  and  full  recovery 
was  marvelous,  and  he  held  it  with  unsubdued  courage  to  the  last. 
He  endured  his  sufferings  and  sickness  with  remarkable  fortitude  and 
cheerfulness.  From  their  commencement  to  their  close  he  murmured 


LIFE   AND    CHARACTER   OF    SAMUEL    F.    HERSEY.  53 

not.  When  absent  from  home,  all  that  kindness  and  attention  could 
do  to  alleviate  his  condition  was  done.  But  to  me,  and  I  may  say 
to  all  my  colleagues,  it  is  a  matter  of  consolation  to  know  that 
friends,  and  home,  and  wife,  and  children  all  contributed  to  cheer 
and  mitigate  his  pain  and  sufferings  in  the  last  days  and  hours  of  his 
life.  There  is  no  place  to  those  who  suffer  like  home ;  no  hand  to 
minister,  no  voice  to  cheer,  like  that  of  an  affectionate  wife.  Stricken 
with  a  disease  which  baffled  all  medical  skill  and  defied  the 
affectionate  care  of  wife  and  friends,  on  the  3d  of  the  present  month, 
without  a  struggle,  his  spirit  took  its  flight  to  "  the  better  land ; " 
and  all  of  him  that  was  mortal  reposes  to-day  in  the  soil  of  his 

native  State. 

Virtue  alone  has  majesty  in  death. 

General  HERSEY  was  a  native  of  the  State  of  Maine,  to  the  manor 
born.  He  was  born  in  the  town  of  Sumner,  county  of  Oxford,  in 
the  month  of  April,  1812.  At  his  decease  he  was  nearly  sixty-three 
years  of  age.  His  early  years,  like  those  of  most  young  men  of  that 
time,  were  devoted  to  agricultural  pursuits  upon  his  father's  farm, 
where  those  habits  of  industry  were  established  which  marked  his 
future  life  and  to  which  he  was  indebted  for  his  great  success.  He 
was  studious  in  his  habits,  and  availed  himself  of  the  common  school 
and  academy,  in  which  he  acquired  a  good,  substantial  English  edu- 
cation. Ambitious  for  a  broader  field  than  the  farm  afforded,  and 
at  a  time  near  his  majority,  he  entered  the  counting-room  to  prepare 
and  fit  himself  for  mercantile  and  business  pursuits,  in  which  he  sub- 
sequently became  distinguished.  Several  years  of  his  life  were 
devoted  to  merchandising;  and  afterward  extending  his  business  to  the 
manufacture  and  sale  of  lumber  in  his  own  and  some  of  the  North- 
western States,  he  became  one  of  the  most  extensive  and  successful 
lumbermen  of  the  country. 

He  was  a  republican  in  principle,  understanding  fully  the  wants  of 
the  country  and  the  duties  of  the  hour.  He  was  no  bigot,  but  con- 


54  •      ADDRESS   OF   MR.    HAMLIN    ON   THE 

ceded  to  others  the  rights  of  opinion  which  he  so  firmly  maintained 
for  himself.  From  the  formation  of  the  republican  party  until  the 
time  of  his  death  he  gave  to  its  support  a  mature  judgment  and  an 
energy  of  purpose  and  personal  efforts  which  made  him  a  power  in 
that  organization.  He  loved  his  whole  country,  and  through  all  the 
dark  and  trying  hours  of  the  war,  when  it  trembled  in  the  balance, 
he  contributed  to  it  his  earnest  and  efficient  support,  and  his  eldest 
son  did  gallant  service  in  the  Army. 

He  has  been  prominent  in  the  administration  of  the  affairs  of  the 
State ;  and  was  an  honor  to  his  State,  as  his  State  had  honored  him. 
.  In  the  years  1842,  1857,  and  1865  he  was  a  member  of  the  house 
of  representatives  of  the  State;  and  in  the  years  1867  and  1869  he 
served  in  the  State  senate.  In  1852  and  1853  he  was  a  member  of 
the  executive  council.  In  1870  he  was  induced  by  his  friends  to  be 
a  candidate  for  the  republican  nomination  for  governor,  and  came 
witin  a  very  few  votes  of  receiving  the  nomination.  In  1872  he  was 
nominated  for  Congress  in  the  fourth  district,  and  elected  by  over 
five  thousand  majority ;  and  was  re-elected  to  the  Forty-fourth  Con- 
gress at  the  annual  election  in  September  last.  Besides  these  he  held 
other  important  political  and  public  trusts.  The  duties  devolved 
upon  him  in  all  these  varied  positions  were  discharged  with  ability, 
fidelity,  and  integrity.  That  speaks  his  own  best  eulogy. 

General  HERSEY  was  an  honest  man — "  God's  noblest  work."  He 
was  a  man  of  unsullied  and  spotless  integrity ;  peerless  in  his  purity. 
In  the  counting-room  or  on  the  public  mart  his  word  was  the  equiv- 
alent of  his  bond.  He  was  a  man  of  public  enterprise,  and  entered 
with  zeal  into  every  measure  which  would  elevate  the  character  of 
his  State  or  city  or  promote  the  welfare  of  the  people,  however 
humble.  He  was  benevolent  and  charitable,  as  the  poor  who  were 
the  recipients  of  his  bounty  can  attest.  While  his  contributions  to 
all  of  our  charitable  institutions  were  of  a  generous  character,  many 
were  the  charities  he  bestowed  unseen  and  unknown  by  the  public. 


LIFE   AND    CHARACTER   OF    SAMUEL   F.    HERSEY.          55 

He  was  an  earnest  friend  of  the  cause  of  education ;  has  contributed 
liberally  to  institutions  of  learning,  and  has  left  large  bequests  for 
its  future  aid  and  support.  He  was  an  earnest  worker  in  the  church 
of  which  he  was  a  member.  How  much  he  contributed,  how  inval- 
uable were  his  services,  how  constant  he  was  in  the  discharge  of  all 
his  varied  duties,  the  church  itself  can  best  know.  But  that  his  serv- 
ices were  invaluable,  that  his  duties  were  well  performed,  and  that 
his  contributions  were  of  the  most  liberal  character,  even  those  not 
closely  associated  with  him  are  well  informed.  How  he  will  be 
missed  and  mourned  within  that  circle! 

He  was  a  Christian  gentleman,  and  his  daily  life  adorned  his  pro- 
fession. He  was  best  loved  by  those  who  knew  him  best.  His  loss 
will  be  sincerely  felt  and  mourned  by  all  classes  of  the  community 
in  which  he  lived,  from  the  highest  to  the  most  humble.  I  mourn 
the  loss  of  a  sincere  friend.  The  State  is  bereft  of  one  of  her  dis- 
tinguished sons ;  his  constituents  are  deprived  of  the  valuable  and 
efficient  services  of  an  able  Representative.  In  the  home  circle,  as 
husband  and  father,  he  was  genial,  kind,  and  affectionate.  He  strove 
to  make  and  did  make  home  what  it  should  be — the  most  endearing 
spot  on  earth.  A  widowed  wife  and  children  weep  in  a  home  made 
desolate  for  the  irreparable  loss  of  a  kind  husband  and  an  affection- 
ate father ;  but  into  that  mourning  circle  it  is  not  my  province  to 
enter.  Time,  "  with  healing  in  its  wings,"  will  assauge  their  grief, 
and  their  reliance  must  be  on  "  Him  who  doeth  all  things  well." 

The  House  has  paid  a  tribute  to  his  worth  and  have  manifested 
their  appreciation  of  the  man  in  their  resolutions  which  have  been 
communicated  to  the  Senate.  I  ask  the  Senate  to  join  with  the 
House  in  an  expression  of  respect  for  the  deceased  and  of  sympathy 
for  the  surviving  relatives  by  adopting  the  resolutions  which  I  now 
send  to  the  Chair. 

The  Secretary  read  the  resolutions,  as  follows  : 

Resolved,  That  the  Senate  receives  with  sincere  regret  the  announce- 


56  ADDRESS   OF   MR.    MORRILL  ON  THE 

ment  of  the  death  of  Hon.  SAMUEL  F.  HERSEY,  late  a  member  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  from  the  State  of  Maine,  and  tenders 
to  the  relatives  of  the  deceased  the  assurance  of  their  sympathy  with 
them  under  the  bereavement  they  have  been  called  to  sustain. 

Resolved,  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Senate  be  directed  to  transmit 
to  the  family  of  Mr.  HERSEY  a  certified  copy  of  the  foregoing  reso- 
lution. 


ADDRESS    OF    ^R.    yViORRILL,    OF 

Mr.  PRESIDENT  :  The  bereavement  which  arrests  the  proceedings 
of  the  Senate  touches  so  many  hearts  with  tenderest  sorrow  in  the 
State  that  honors  me  with  its  confidence,  and  withal  sunders  ties  of 
friendly  and  official  relations,  that  I  trust  to  be  indulged  in  adding 
a  few  words  to  what  has  already  been  so  feelingly  and  appropriately 
said. 

The  claims  of  Mr.  HERSEY  upon  our  respect  spring  from  an  unsul- 
lied character,  from  his  personal  virtues  and  public  services.  By  the 
inherent  energies  and  fidelity  of  his  nature,  unaided  by  adventitious 
supports,  he  had  acquired  affluence  in  private  affairs,  had  often  been 
associated  in  the  councils  of  his  State,  and  had  at  length  entered 
those  of  the  nation,  alas !  unhappily,  soon  to  fall  under  the  heavy 
hand  of  disease,  which  ere  long  was  to  remove  him  hence. 

His  was  an  active  and  useful  life  in  the  departments  of  practical 
duty  and  endeavor,  whereby  society  is  advanced  through  a  commu- 
nity of  interests,  the  general  welfare,  the  highest  good  of  the  great- 
est number. 

He  was  ever  the  sagacious,  upright,  eminently  successful  man  of 
business,  of  generous  impulses,  of  a  truly  catholic  spirit,  charitable, 
liberal,  and  humane,  whose  daily  life  was  withoufcreproach,  and  was 
an  example  to  all.  He  has  sprung  from  among  the  people  in  the 
common  walks  of  life,  was  by  the  simplicity  of  his  tastes,  the  habits 
formed  in  pursuits  intimately  connected  with  their  interests,  and  by 


LIFE   AND    CHARACTER   OF   SAMUEL   F.    HERSEY.          57 

his  truly  democratic  intentions  always  in  deepest  sympathy  with 
them,  and  was  therefore  fitly  and  not  infrequently  their  trusted  Rep- 
resentative. 

The  memory  of  Mr.  HERSEY  will  be  cherished  by  the  people  of 
Maine  as  among  the  public  men  who  had  rendered  valuable  public 
service  in  its  councils,  who  in  private  life  was  faithful  to  every  duty, 
to  the  obligations  of  friendship,  and  the  claims  of  good  neighbor- 
ship. 

Mr.  President,  I  second  the  resolutions  offered  by  my  colleague. 

The  resolutions  were  adopted  unanimously. 


8  B 


MEMORIAL  ADDRESSES 


ON  THE 


LIFE  AND  C 


OF 


SAMUEL  HOOPER, 


(  A  REPRESENTATIVE  FROM  MASSACHUSETTS,) 


DELIVERED  IN  THE 


SENATE  AND  J-TOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES, 


FEBRUARY  20,    1875. 


PUBLISHED  BY  ORDER  OF  CONGRESS. 


^ORTT-THIRD  poNGRESS,  J3ECOND  CESSION. 
1875. 


ADDRESSES 


DEATH  OF  SAMUEL  HOOPER. 


PROCEEDINGS  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES. 


ADDRESS    OF    yVlR.    ji.    ft.    JiOAR ,    OF    ^VlASSACHUSETTS- 

In  the  death  of  SAMUEL  HOOPER,  the  last  of  our  associates  who 
has  been  summoned  from  the  scenes  of  his  earthly  labors,  we  have 
been  called  to  part  with  a  member  of  this  body  one  of  the  oldest  of 
our  number,  one  of  the  longest  in  continuous  service,  and  one  of  the 
most  generally  esteemed  and  respected. 

He  was  born  in  Marblehead,  on  the  3d  of  February,  1808.  His 
father  and  grandfather  were  merchants,  and  he  came  of  that  sturdy 
race  of  men  who  for  two  centuries  have  peopled  the  shores  of  Mas- 
sachusetts Bay,  making  it  the  nursery  of  seamen,  the  home  of  ship- 
masters, and  the  birthplace  of  so  large  a  proportion  of  those  whose 
enterprise  and  sagacity  have  whitened  every  sea  with  the  sails  of 
American  commerce;  the  men  of  courage,  endurance,  clear  heads, 
and  large  hearts,  who  have  gathered  wealth  in  every  field  of  com- 
mercial adventure  to  pour  it  out  freely  4n  response  to  any  call  of 
patriotism,  of  public  spirit,  of  religion,  education,  learning,  or  public 
or  private  charity. 

His  father  was  the  president  of  .the  old  Marblehead  Bank,  one  of 


62  ADDRESS  OF   MR.    HOAR  ON  THE 

the  solid  moneyed  institutions  of  an  elder  generation.  He  was  thus 
by  birth  and  training  fitted  for  the  employment  to  which  most  of  his 
life  was  devoted,  that  of  a  merchant  and  financier,  in  which  he 
achieved  such  eminent  distinction  and  success.  In  his  early  life  he 
went  as  supercargo  in  his  father's  vessels  to  Cuba  and  Russia  and 
Spain.  He  married  a  daughter  of  William  Sturgis,  and  thereupon 
became  a  partner  in  the  house  of  Bryant  &  Sturgis,  and  engaged  in 
the  trade  with  China  and  the  northwest  coast.  On  the  dissolution 
of  that  firm  he  became  a  partner  of  William  Appleton,  his  predeces- 
sor in  Congress,  continuing  the  large  and  varied  business  of  the 
house,  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Appleton,  under  the  name  of  Samuel 
Hooper  &  Co.  By  inheritance  and  marriage  he  had  a  considerable 
property,  which  he  increased  to  the  dimensions  of  a  large  fortune. 
His  wife,  two  daughters,  and  several  grandchildren  survive  him,  but 
he  had  borne  the  heavy  sorrow  of  the  loss  of  his  only  son. 

His  public  life  consisted  of  three  years'  service  in  the  Massachusetts 
house  of  representatives,  a  single  term  in  the  State  senate,  and  the 
fourteen  years  in  which  he  has  represented  one  of  the  Boston  dis- 
tricts in  Congress. 

Mr.  HOOPER  first  attracted  notice  in  connection  with  public  affairs 
by  the  vigor  with  which,  when  a  member  of  the  whig  party,  he 
addressed  himself  to  the  defense  of  the  doctrine  of  hard  money  and 
the  stringent  regulation  of  whatever  substitute  therefor  might  be 
devised,  which  brought  him  for  a  time  somewhat  in  affiliation  with 
the  democrats.  He  became  early  a  member  of  the  republican  party, 
and  during  his  whole  term  of  service  in  Congress  represented  that 
party  upon  this  floor. 

To  most  of  those  of  us  who  are  members  of  Congress  for  the  first 
time  Mr.  HOOPER'S  position  and  strength  in  this  House  are  very  much 
matters  of  tradition.  But  with  his  large  experience,  with  his  native 
shrewdness,  with  his  clearness  of  mind  and  uprightness  of  purpose, 
he  brought  to  the  public  service  here  when  he  first  entered  upon  it 


LIFE   AND   CHARACTER  OF    SAMUEL   HOOPER.  63 

qualities  of  conspicuous  value.  As  a  member  of  the  Committee  on 
Ways  and  Means  and  as  a  member  and  chairman  of  the  Committee 
on  Banking  and  Currency  he  has  exerted  a  most  important  influence 
upon  tfie  legislation  of  the  country. 

He  was  the  trusted  adviser  and  friend  of  Chase  and  Fessenden  and 
Boutwell.  He  was  a  friend  and  confidant  of  Stan  ton  and  Sumner 
and  Lincoln.  And,  Mr.  Speaker,  I  may  say  that  his  friendships  and 
his  valuable  influence  extended  far  beyond  the  region  of  his  party 
associations.  He  was  a  friendly  man ;  he  was  a  thoughtful  and  con- 
siderate man. 

He  could  clearly  perceive  and  could  clearly  express  what  he 
thought.  He  had  none  of  the  graces  of  oratory,  but  in  the  time  of 
his  strength  he  was  combative,  forcible,  energetic  in  the  maintenance 
of  the  views  which  he  believed  sound. 

But,  Mr.  Speaker,  it  is  as  we  remember  him  so  recently  among  us, 
rather  than  as  the  man  of  business  or  the  politician,  that  I  desire  to 
speak  of  him  to-day.  His  modest  and  simple  nature  would  have 
shrunk  from  anything  like  public  eulogy,  but  his  affectionate  heart 
would  have  rejoiced  in  everything  that  spoke  of  kind  and  friendly 
remembrance.  I  think  that  we  all  of  us  have  felt  as  we  have  looked 
upon  that  silvered  head  that  whoever  else  might  bear  the  title  by 
courtesy,  Mr.  HOOPER  after  all  must  be  considered  as  the  father  of 
this  House. 

Possessed  of  large  wealth  which  enabled  him  to  gratify  his  friendly 
tastes,  he  was  the  most  hospitable  of  men ;  hospitable  not  only  in  the 
sense  in  which  many  who  are  men  of  wealth  may  exhibit  that  qual- 
ity, by  costly  and  frequent  entertainments,  but  by  a  hospitality  and 
flowing  courtesy  toward  all  men.  He  attracted  to  his  house  and  to 
his  society  men  among  the  ablest  and  the  best  which  our  country 
furnishes,  and  with  them  men  of  less  note  and  even  sometimes  men 
whom  it  would  require  a  large  charity  to  reckon  of  that  number. 

He  had  firm  convictions]  he  adhered  to  his  own  opinions.     But  he 


64  ADDRESS   OF   MR.    HOAR   ON  THE 

had  no  animosity,  and  his  willingness  to  receive  and  treat  with  fair- 
ness the  differing  opinions  of  others  had  nothing  in  it  of  the  conde- 
scension of  toleration.  He  recognized  human  differences  and  he  had 
a  large  catholic  spirit  which  could  embrace  relations  with  men  of  all 
classes  of  opinion.  Men  of  fame,  men  distinguished  in  science  and 
in  letters,  have  been  his  friends  and  associates.  And  he  extended 
to  the  poor  and  the  lowly  a  free  and  generous  liberality  which  should 
bring  a  benediction  upon  his  memory. 

When  the  ear  heard  him,  then  it  blessed  him;  and  when  the  eye 
saw  him,  it  gave  witness  to  him  because  he  delivered  the  poor  that 
cried,  and  the  fatherless,  and  him  that  had  none  to  help  him. 

His  private  charities  were  limited  only  by  his  knowledge  of  the 
wants  of  those  about  him.  And  in  addition  to  those  which  he 
bestowed,  and  so  quietly  that  except  by  comparison  of  the  knowl- 
edge accidentally  obtained,  one  person  with  another,  few  could 
have  any  idea  of  their  extent,  he  employed  an  almoner  to  seek  out 
cases  of  want,  whose  distribution  to  the  poor  of  this  city  has  reached 
to  thousands  of  dollars.  He  was  liberal  to  public  objects,  and 
founded  a  school  of  mines  in  Harvard  College  with  an  ample 
endowment. 

I  think,  Mr.  Speaker,  he  has  left  in  this  House  no  enemies;  all  of 
us  who  knew  him  were  his  friends.  He  has  gone  from  us;  and  we 

turn  to  our  public  duties  more  sadly  because  we  miss  him  from 

• 
among  us. 

It  has  been  touching  to  note  during  the  present  session  what  a 
change  gradually  came  over  him,  with  his  failing  strength  and 
increasing  years.  Formerly  taking  his  full  part  in  social  intercourse, 
exhibiting  a  ready  and  genial  humor,  a  promptness  to  argue  any 
proposition,  I  noticed  that  during  this  session  he  became  gradually 
more  silent,  his  conversation  partaking  more  and  more  of  reminis- 
cences, and  that  he  became  what  in  the  clamor  for  a  hearing  so  often 
prevailing  in  this  assembly  we  have  all  learned  to  value — a  good 


LIFE   AND   CHARACTER   OF    SAMUEL   HOOPER.  65 

listener.  He  will  be  long  affectionately  remembered  by  those  of  us 
who  have  known  him;  and  he  deserves" to  be  honorably  remembered 
for  his  great  public  service.  His  family — wife,  children,  grandchild- 
ren— were  all  in  a  foreign  land  at  the  time  of  his  death.  But  there 
were  affectionate  and  tender  friends  and  relatives  about  his  dying 
bed ;  and  those  who  followed  him  to  the  grave  felt  that  their  pres- 
ence recognized  not  only  a  public  loss,  but  a  deep  and  general 
private  sorrow. 

Mr.  Speaker,  I  submit  the  following  resolutions : 

Resolved,  That  this  House  has  heard  with  deep  regret  the  announce- 
ment of  the  death  of  SAMUEL  HOOPER,  late  a  member  of  this  House 
from  the  State  of  Massachusetts. 

Resolved,  That  as  a  testimony  of  respect  for  the  memory  of  the 
deceased,  the  members  and  officers  of  the  House  wear  the  usual 
badge  of  mourning  for  thirty  days. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  transmitted  by  the 
Clerk  to  the  family  of  the  deceased. 

Resolved,  As  a  further  mark  of  respect,  that  the  House  do  now 
adjourn. 


ADDRESS  OF    MR.  PIERCE,  OF    MASSACHUSETTS. 

Mr.  SPEAKER  :  I  rise  to  second  the  resolutions  which  have  just  been 
offered,  and  to  add  a  few  words  to  what  has  been  said  so  well  by  my 
distinguished  colleague  [Mr.  E.  R.  HOAR]  who  preceded  me. 

Representing  in  part  upon  this  floor  the  city  of  Boston,  I  regard  it 
to  be  my  duty,  as  it  is  my  desire,  to  give  expression  to  the  sense  of 
the  loss  which  she  has  sustained  by  the  death  of  Mr.  HOOPER,  who 
for  fourteen  years  was  her  faithful  and  trusted  Representative.  A 
son  of  Massachusetts,  Boston  had  been  his  home  for  nearly  fifty 


9  R 


66  ADDRESS   OF   MR.    PIERCE   ON   THE 

years,  and  he  was  thoroughly  identified  with  her  people  and  her 
interests.  He  contributed  his  full  share  toward  the  development  of 
her  resources  and  the  promotion  of  her  prosperity  and  growth.  As 
her  Representative  in  Congress,  he  sought  and  succeeded  in  winning 
for  her  the  good  opinion  of  his  associates  from  other  parts  of  the 
country,  and  did  much,  I  think,  to  dissipate  the  prejudices  which 
unhappily  too  often  prevail  among  our  people  and  color  their  action. 

Few  men  in  public  life  can  point  to  a  longer  or  more  honorable 
service  than  fell  to  the  lot  of  Mr.  HOOPER. 

In  the  State  legislature  he  was  distinguished  for  his  independence 
and  for  the  progressive  measures  he  espoused,  which  were  much  in 
advance  of  the  sentiment  of  the  party  to  which  he  belonged.  His 
seven  terms  in  Congress  covered  the  most  eventful  period  of  our  his- 
tory as  a  nation.  During  that  time  a  social  and  political  revolution 
was  accomplished,  all  the  powers  conferred  upon  Congress  by  the 
Constitution  were  brought  into  exercise,  and  measures  affecting  the 
most  precious  rights  of  individuals  and  States  were  daily  pressed  for 
action.  In  the  determination  of  these  questions  Mr.  HOOPER  acted 
worthily  and  ably.  The  possession  of  wealth  enabled  him  to  extend 
to  others  a  generous  hospitality,  and  he  could  count  among  his  friends 
the  most  distinguished  citizens  of  our  own  and  foreign  countries. 
From  this  wide  and  liberal  association  he  derived  a  store  of  varied 
knowledge  of  affairs  that  became  of  inestimable  value  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  duties  in  this  House,  upon  which  his  associates  could 
always  depend  and  from  which  they  freely  drew.  His  judgment  had 
been  strengthened  and  enlightened  by  long  attention  to  important 
questions  affecting  the  State  and  free  intercourse  with  those  who 
made  them  a  study.  We  can  all  join,  sir,  in  recalling  his  familiarity 
with  questions  of  finance  and  commerce,  and  the  readiness  with 
which  he  imparted  information  concerning  them. 

Mr.  HOOPER  closed  his  career  as  a  legislator  in  the  ripeness  of  age. 
Declining  to  engage  anew  in  the  cares  and  labors  of  congressional 


LIFE    AND    CHARACTER   OF    SAMUEL   HOOPER.  67 

life,  he  passed  away  when  those  cares  and  labors  were  for  him  shad- 
ing unto  their  end.  The  records  of  this  House  attest  his  usefulness, 
but  by  none  but  those  who  personally  knew  him  can  his  generosity 
and  kindness  be  properly  appreciated. 


ADDRESS  OF    MR.   NIBLACK,  OF  INDIANA. 

Mr.  SPEAKER  :  There  is  no  time  when  it  is  so  difficult  to  find  language 
to  express  the  real  emotions  of  the  heart  as  on  an  occasion  like  this. 
This  is  due  in  part  doubtless  to  the  confused  and  stricken  condition 
of  the  mind  which  naturally  follows  the  death  of  one  whom  we  have 
been  accustomed  to  honor  and  esteem.  The  sad  reflections  which 
overshadow  us  are  not  relieved  by  the  utterance  of  any  words,  how- 
ever fitly  chosen.  Reverential  silence  seems  to  be  more  appropriate. 

I  cannot  speak  of  Mr.  HOOPER  as  those  who  have  preceded  me ; 
it  was  not  my  fortune  to  know  him  so  long  and  so  intimately  as  they 
knew  him.  My  acquaintance  with  him  commenced  with  the  assem- 
bling^ of  the  Thirty-ninth  Congress,  in  December,  1865.  Before  I 
had  the  honor  of  meeting  him  here  I  had  learned  to  regard  him  as 
one  of  the  most  esteemed  and  trusted  members  of  this  House,  who 
had  entered  Congress  during  the  eventful  period  of  the  war,  and 
whose  opinions  had  deservedly  great  weight  with  those  who  were 
charged  with  the  administration  .of  the  Government.  A  brief 
acquaintance  with  him  served  to  confirm  those  very  favorable 
impressions  which  I  had  already  received  as  to  his  great  worth  as  a 
man  and  his  fidelity  as  a  public  officer. 

Two  years  later,  on  the  organization  of  this  House  in  the  Fortieth 
Congress,  I  became  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  Ways  and  Means, 
of  which  Mr.  HOOPER  was  then,  as  he  had  previously  been,  one  of 


68  ADDRESS    OF    MR.    NIBLACK   ON   THE 

the  leading  members.  That  brought  me  into  more  intimate  relation- 
ship with  him  than  I  had  previously  enjoyed.  My  two  years'  service 
with  him  on  that  committee  gave  me  many  opportunities  to  witness 
something  of  his  daily  life  and  to  judge  of  the  ability  and  fidelity 
which  he  brought  with  him  to  the  discharge  of  his  public  duties. 

It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  I  would  always  agree  with  him  in 
measures  of  public  policy.  We  approached  questions  here  very  fre- 
quently from  different  stand-points,  and  represented  constituencies 
often  not  in  accord  in  their  theories  of  government.  I  trust,  how- 
ever, I  am  none  the  less  able  on  this  account  to  do  ample  justice  to 
his  character. 

While  faithful  to  what  he  considered  the  peculiar  interests  of  those 
he  represented,  I  never  found  him  apparently  governed  by  any  nar- 
row or  sectional  views.  Impressing  me  from  the  first  as  a  just,  dis- 
creet, and  fair-minded  man  of  broad  and  liberal  sentiments,  I  came 
soon  to  regard  him  as  a  model  representative  of  that  class  of  solid 
and  progressive  men  to  which  he  pre-eminently  belonged.  So  I 
have  continued  to  regard  him. 

Kind,  genial,  benevolent,  faithful,  industrious,  and  vigilant,  he  pur- 
sued the  right  as  it  was  given  him  to  see  it  with  unfaltering  steps  and 
unruffled  temper.  The  petty  storms  which  occasionally  sweep  over 
this  House  burst  harmless  over  his  head  without  disturbing  that 
quiet  dignity  of  deportment  which  always  attended  him  as  a  member 
of  this  body. 

While  true  to  his  friendships  and  earnest  in  his  convictions,  he  car- 
ried with  him  that  conciliatory  disposition  which  disarmed  all  per- 
sonal antagonism,  and  if  he  had  a  personal  enemy  among  all  the 
members  of  this  House  I  am  quite  unaware  of  it. 

It  was  my  good  fortune,  Mr.  Speaker,  to  have  received  at  the 
hands  of  Mr.  HOOPER  many  attentions  and  courtesies,  which  have 
made  a  lasting  impression  upon  me  and  which  I  shall  always  kindly 
remember.  Indeed,  such  were  the  kindly  personal  relations  existing 


LIFE   AND   CHARACTER   OF   SAMUEL   HOOPER.  69 

between  us  for  several  years  past,  that  I  have  been  accustomed  to 
regard  myself  as  one  of  his  personal  friends,  and  as  such  I  have 
reason  to  believe  he  regarded  me.  I  unite,  therefore,  with  affection- 
ate earnestness  in  doing  every  suitable  honor  to  his  memory. 


ADDRESS    OF    y\lR.    JBtJTLER,    OF    yVlASSACHUSETTS. 

Mr.  SPEAKER:  All  that  the  usage  or  custom  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives requires  upon  such  a  solemn  occasion  as  this  has  been 
done,  and  well  done;  and  perhaps  it  were  best  that  here  these 
funeral  ceremonies  should  close.  But  to  me  this  occasion  is  not  one 
of  mere  ceremony.  Almost  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago  I  was  drawn 
into  the  closest  relations  with  Mr.  HOOPER  in  the  representative  assem- 
bly of  our  Commonwealth;  and  from  that  hour  he  has  been  to  me 
a  friend  so  faithful,  so  just,  so  wise,  and  so  true  that  I  cannot  let 
this  last  hour  of  mournful  farewell  pass  without  bearing  testimony 
to  those  great,  noble,  and  generous  qualities  of  mind  and  heart  which 
distinguished  him  quite  beyond  any  man  I  ever  knew.  I  need  not — 
indeed,  I  cannot — add  a  word  of  eulogium.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to 
eulogize  my  deceased  friend  and  fellow-member,  with  whom  I  have 
served  here  for  eight  years  in  closest  harmony  and  closest  friendship. 
I  pray  your  pardon,  Mr.  Speaker,  and  that  of  the  House,  in  thus  pos- 
sibly contrary  to  usage  giving  my  heartfelt  testimony  to  the  kindest 
heart  and  the  noblest  mind  in  all  the  relations  of  life,  that  filled  with 
all  the  best  attributes  of  social  intercourse,  and  which  overflowed 
with  charity  to  all  men  and  the  truest  loyalty  to  friendship. 

The  resolutions  submitted  by  Mr.  E.  R.  HOAR  were  then  adopted 
unanimously;  and  in  accordance  therewith  (at  five  o'clock  p.  m.) 
the  House  adjourned. 


70          ADDRESS  OF  MR.  BOUTWELL  ON  THE 


PROCEEDINGS    IN    THE    SENATE. 


A  message  from  the  House  of  Representatives,  by  Mr.  McPherson, 
its  Clerk,  announced  that  the  House  had  passed  resolutions  as  a 
mark  of  respect  for  the  memory  of  Hon.  SAMUEL  HOOPER,  late  a 
member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  from  the  State  of  Massa- 
chusetts. 

The  resolutions  were  read,  as  follows : 

IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES, 

February  20,  1875. 

Resolved,  That  this  House  has  heard  with  deep  regret  the  announce- 
ment of  the  death  of  SAMUEL  HOOPER,  late  a  member  of  this  House 
from  the  State  of  Massachusetts. 

Resolved,  That  as  a  testimony  of  respect  for  the  memory  of  the 
deceased  the  members  and  officers  of  the  House  wear  the  usual 
badge  of  mourning  for  thirty  days. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  transmitted  by  the 
Clerk  to  the  family  of  the  deceased. 

Resolved,  As  a  further  mark  of  respect  that  the  House  do  now 
adjourn. 


ADDRESS    OF    yVlR     BOUTWELL,    OF    ^VlASSACHUSETTS. 

Mr.  PRESIDENT  :  The  death  and  the  circumstances  of  the  death  of 
Mr.  HOOPER  are  fresh  in  the  memories  of  Senators.     Mr.  HOOPER 


LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  OF  SAMUEL  HOOPER.      71 

had  three  claims  of  a  high  character  to  the  consideration  of  his  fel- 
low-men while  living,  and  there  remain  three  special  grounds  for 
eulogy  now  that  he  has  passed  away. 

In  the  relations  of  life  that  may  be  called  personal  he  bore  him- 
self not  only  without  reproach,  but  in  a  manner  to  command  the 
respect  of  all  who  enjoyed  his  friendship  or  acquaintance. 

He  was  charitable  to  the  poor  in  the  largest  sense  of  that  term ; 
helpful  to  those  who  needed  assistance  either  by  advice  or  the  use  of 
capital  for  business  purposes;  considerate  of  the  wishes,  wants, 
and  trials  of  the  humble,  and  to  his  friends  and  associates  he  ten- 
dered an  unostentatious  hospitality,  which  literally  was  without 
limits. 

As  a  merchant,  he  was  trained,  careful,  enterprising,  and  success- 
ful. He  was  one  of  the  oldest  and  one  of  the  best  of  the  business 
men- of  Boston.  As  an  importer,  dealing  with  countries  most  remote 
from  his  own  country,  he  based  h'is  undertakings  upon  a  knowledge 
of  the  products  and  the  demand  for  the  products  of  those  distant 
lands.  He  had  knowledge  of  the  systems  of  finance  and  currency 
of  other  nations,  and  he  was  thoroughly  instructed  in  the  financial 
systems  of  the  United  States ;  and  this  knowledge  contributed  alike 
to  his  success  in  business  and  to  his  success  as  a  representative  of 
business  men. 

His  honorable  career  as  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
for  nearly  fourteen  years  is  known  to  the  Senate  and  to  the  country. 
For  many  years  he  was  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  Ways  and 
Means,  and  at  different  times  he  was  chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Coinage,  Weights,  and  Measures,  and  of  the  Committee  on  Banking 
and  Currency. 

In  thes%  various  places  he  brought  to  the  service  of  the  country  an 
amount  of  knowledge,  historical,  practical,  and  theoretical,  not  sur- 
passed by  that  of  any  of  his  associates.  His  powers  for  debate 
were  limited,  but  his  judgment  was  so  highly  respected  that  his 


72  ADDRESS    OF    MR.    MORRILL   ON   THE 

influence  with  the  House  was  but  slightly  impaired  by  this  circum- 
stance. 

As  a  man,  a  merchant,  and  a  Representative  he  should  be  remem- 
bered with  affection  by  his  associates  in  life,  and  with  gratitude  by 
the  people  of  the  State  that  he  so  long  and  faithfully  served. 

I  submit  for  the  consideration  of  the  Senate  the  resolutions  which 
I  send  to  the  desk  of  the  Secretary. 

The  Secretary  read  the  resolutions,  as  follows : 

Resolved,  That  as  a  mark  of  respect  for  the  memory  of  Hon. 
SAMUEL  HOOPER,  late  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
from  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  the  members  and  officers  of  the 
Senate  will  wear  the  usual  badge  of  mourning  for  thirty  days. 

Resolved,  That  the  sympathies  of  the  members  of  the  Senate  be 
tendered  to  the  family  of  Mr.  HOOPER  in  this  bereavement,  and  that 
the  Secretary  of  the  Senate  transmit  to  them  a  copy  of  these  resolu- 
tions. 


ADDRESS    OF    JA.R.    ^VLORRILL,    OF 

Mr.  PRESIDENT:  My  acquaintance  with  Mr.  HOOPER  began  in 
1862,  when  he  succeeded  Mr.  Appleton,  of  Boston,  on  the  Com- 
mittee on  Ways  and  Means  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  Mr. 
Appleton  had  been  a  thoroughly  trained,  high-toned  merchant,  with 
considerable  experience  in  public  affairs,  and  his  counsel  upon  finan- 
cial subjects  at  the  called  session  of  1861,  although  he  was  then  in 
very  feeble  health,  had  great  weight  with  the  committee  as  well  as 
with  the  public;  but  he  did  not  live  to  aid  the  measures  of  the  next 
regular  session  of  Congress. 

Mr.  HOOPER,  taking  the  place  thus  made  vacant,  brought  similar 
qualifications  to  those  of  his  predecessor  for  his  new  field^bf  duties, 
and  brought  in  addition  health  and  that  robust  frame  which  enabled 
him  then  to  bear  the  heavy  strain  of  continuous  labor  upon  a  com- 
mittee most  heavily  charged  with  the  business  of  the  House.  At 


LIFE   AND    CHARACTER   OF    SAMUEL   HOOPER. 


73 


home  his  known  sagacity  for  the  conduct  of  important  business 
affairs  had  secured  to  him  from  a  large  corporation  a  salary  quite 
equal  to  that  then  allowed  to  the  office  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States.  His  knowledge  of  trade,  especially  that  known  as 
the  East  India  and  China  trade,  was  extensive  and  accurate.  With 
the  subjects  of  banking,  coinage,  and  currency  he  was  practically 
familiar,  and  all  measures  in  relation  thereto  commanded  his  careful 
study.  In  the  workshop  of  the  committee — the  crucible  which  daily 
tests  the  merits  of  every  legislator — Mr.  HOOPER  was  ranked  as  a 
man  of  high  value.  If  he  did  not  shine  greatly  as  an  advocate  or 
debater  of  measures,  there  were  few  who  had  more  good  sense  in 
their  proper  preparation,  few  who  could  more  clearly  put  propositions 
in  writing,  and  he  was  ever  listened  to  with  respectful  attention. 

Close  association  with  Mr.  HOOPER  month  after  month,  year  after 
year,  every  morning  bringing  news  of  some  battle  lost  or  won,  and 
most  generally  in  accord  with  him  as  to  particular  measures,  it  was 
natural  that  he  should  have  won  a  large  share  of  my  confidence  and 
esteem. 

The  city  of  Boston  has  often  bestowed  upon  her  eminent  merchants 
the  honor  of  choosing  them  as  Representatives  in  Congress,  and  no 
one  longer  retained  the  confidence  of  his  constituents  than  Mr. 
HOOPER,  and  no  one  could  have  been  more  diligent  in  looking  after 
their  interests,  whether  public  or  local. 

At  the  Treasury  Department  his  advice  was  fully  appreciated  and 
frequently  sought  after.  Everywhere  he  bore  the  character  of  a  cool, 
deliberate,  and  wise  man. 

In  the  field  of  charity  he  was  liberal  and  constant,  but  never  sought 
to  be  conspicuous.  With  abundant  means,  to  him  it  seemed  a  pleas- 
ure to  do  good  without  proclaiming  it  upon  the  house-tops.  He  will 
be  missed  and  mourned  not  only  by  a  large  circle  among  the  cul- 
tured and  wealthy,  but  by  the  humble  poor  and  by  colored  people 
who  needed  his  liberal-handed  assistance.  He  was  their  friend. 


10  B 


74  ADDRESS   OF   MR.    MORRILL. 

The  elegant  but  modest  hospitality  of  his  home  in  Washington, 
where  visitors  to  the  city  and  distinguished  men  were  often  invited, 
has  been  so  long  enjoyed  here  that  it  might  almost  be  called  one  of 
the  attractions  of  Washington  society.  Here  learned  men,  states- 
men, jurists,  and  diplomats  were  from  time  to  time  brought  together, 
and  bore  their  parts  in  conversations  often  brilliant  and  never  devoid 
of  some  peculiar  interest.  All  guests  were  at  their  ease,  none  had  to 
be  thawed  out,  and  the  host,  far  from  monopolizing  too  much  time, 
set  the  example  of  a  good  listener. 

He  was  not  an  extreme  partisan,  though  a  consistent  republican, 
and  as  devotedly  attached  to  all  the  doctrines  touching  human  free- 
dom as  he  was  to  his  personal  friends. 

So  lately  in  our  daily  sight,  his  death  strikes  us  with  awe  by  com- 
ing so  swiftly ;  but  now  that  his  career  is  ended,  if  he  is  not  crowned 
by  the  splendor  of  any  work  of  one  great  day,  his  memory  should  be 
more  precious  because  he  made  himself  useful  to  the  world  and  faith- 
fully discharged  the  duty  of  an  honorable  man  all  the  days  of  his  life. 

The  resolutions  were  unanimously  agreed  to. 

Mr.  HAMLIN.  Mr.  President,  now,  as  a  further  mark  of  respect  to 
the  deceased,  I  move  that  the  Senate  adjourn. 

The  motion  was  unanimously  agreed  to,  and  (at  five  o'clock  and 
twenty  minutes  p.  m.)  the  Senate  adjourned. 


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